TRYING for a baby can be hard work.
There's the weeks spent monitoring your cycle and the countless number of pregnancy tests you will get through.
Kloe, 31 and her husband Michael, 35 had been trying for a baby for years and had previously suffered a miscarriage.
So when the couple found out they were pregnant with twins, they were understandably over the moon.
But their joy soon turned to horror when doctors told them they would have to make an impossible decision.
The pair were told their boys were suffering from twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome – where one foetus takes more of the nutrients – putting both their lives at risk.
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Because of this, medics told Kloe she would have to consider cutting the cord of one of her sons to give the other a better chance at survival.
Kloe knew she had to give both her children a fighting chance and opted to go forward with laser surgery, despite her smaller twin being given just a 10 per cent chance of life.
While the surgery was a success, at 27-weeks pregnant, Kloe went into premature labour and the twins had to fight for their lives once more.
Now 18 months on, the brothers, James and Michael have a very special bond.
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Kloe, from Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk said: "I've seen the bond from the start – they always want to be close to each other and can't leave each other alone.
"It was never a choice to choose between my boys because we were given this chance for a reason.
"To be asked to consider cutting the cord of my little Michael had to be the worst day of my life – it felt like we had been written off.
"After everything we had already been through – I knew that they both deserved a chance to fight."
She said there was something that had told her to give them both a chance as they needed to be together.
"They could either cut the cord of the smallest twin to give the other the best chance of survival or receive a laser surgery through the bump and placenta which would save both boys – however there was only a 10% survival rate for smaller twin.
"The boys had spent all that time together inside, it is only right that they should be together," Kloe added.
DECISION TIME
It was after a scan at Rosie Addenbrookes hospital in Cambridge that Kloe found out her boys had twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome.
She was immediately sent to Kings College Hospital in London and had just three hours to make the difficult decision about her unborn children's lives.
Kloe said: "An hour later I was in surgery to save them both.
What is twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome?
According to the NHS TTTS affects identical twins who share a placenta.
The NHS said: "It’s caused by abnormal connecting blood vessels in the twins' placenta.
"This results in an imbalanced blood flow from one twin (known as the donor) to the other (recipient), leaving one baby with a greater blood volume than the other."
It affects around 10-15% of twins who share a placenta and can have serious consequences.
TAMBA – the Twins and Multiple Births Association, explaining the syndrome, said: "A lack of blood supply can affect the donor twin’s growth so they are smaller than average.
"The recipient twin is usually larger and has a higher blood volume, which can strain their heart as it works harder to cope with the extra blood supply.
"To compensate for the excess blood, the recipient twin often produces a large amount of fluid. In contrast, the smaller donor twin can become stuck against the uterus wall with little surrounding fluid."
"After the surgery, I was very unwell but I knew I had made the right decision.
"A lot of people go into labour 10-12 weeks after the surgery and my boys had done it 10 weeks to the day after the procedure.
"I was really unwell and thought I had covid because I woke up all fluey, but it was actually the boys on their way.
"I wasn't feeling well and on top of that I was worrying about my boys because they were coming out so early."
They're best of friends and they've been through so much together already I'm excited to see how their bond will develop,
James and Michael Matthews were born prematurely at just 27 weeks and weighed only 1.6lbs and 2.6lbs spent 16-weeks fighting for their lives in intensive care on the 28th January last year.
Kloe had also been really unwell and wasn't able to see her boys for 14 hours.
"It was such an awful time – I didn't know if they were going to survive and I just wanted to meet my babies.
"It was amazing to see them but absolutely terrifying at the same time.
"James weight just 2lb 6oz and my little Michael was only 1lb 6oz.
"They were so tiny, they could fit into my hands but little Michael didn’t even fit in his Dad's hand.
"They've had the closest bond since – one won't sleep without other in the room now!
"Their relationship is like no other, although I can see them starting to enjoy teasing each other now."
Despite everything, the twins, who even have their own Instagram account @ourmiracletwins – made it home and a year late Kloe and Michael got married.
She said that having her boys there at her wedding had cemented everything the family had been through.
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"Now the boys have just had their first birthday and to think we never thought we would get to seeing them crawling and being mischievous.
"They're best of friends and they've been through so much together already I'm excited to see how their bond will develop," she added.
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