IDENTICAL BROTHERS

THRILLED Danielle Rogerson and Joe Smith hold their gorgeous identical twins aloft.

Both boys are well but – as these remarkable pictures show – there is something unusual about them.

Because of a rare condition, which they are lucky to have survived, Ronnie was born twice the weight of his brother Teddy.

Danielle was diagnosed with twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome (TTTS) after the boys’ difference in size was noticed at only seven weeks. Doctors warned they were unlikely to make it because there was something going wrong with how they were getting nutrients from a shared placenta.

But the boys defied the odds and are now back home.

Danielle, who works in HR for a pharmaceutical company, said: “There were many occasions throughout the pregnancy where we thought Teddy wouldn’t make it. Ronnie was in just as much danger.”

She was diagnosed with polycystic ovaries as a teenager and knew her chances of conceiving naturally were slim.

After meeting Joe, an estate agent, in December 2014 on Tinder, the couple were ready to start a family in 2016.

Danielle said: “Doctors wanted to give me medication to help our chances but first they checked Joe’s fertility.

“After samples and tests it was confirmed that sadly, Joe’s semen didn’t contain any sperm at all.”

The embryologist explained that the quality of Joe’s sperm was brilliant but it just wasn’t getting through to semen in the usual way.

Excited

Danielle said: “It meant we could have IVF and in October 2016 we were accepted for funding.’

After one fertilised embryo was transferred into Danielle’s womb in March 2017, she had to wait two weeks before a pregnancy test.

She recalled: “When the day came I took the test at 5am. Twice! Both results were positive. We were so excited we could hardly contain ourselves. We called both our mums and said, ‘Good morning Nanny.’’’

A scan at seven weeks picked up that the egg had split and Danielle was expecting twins.

But there was alarm because a size difference between the twins was already noticeable even thought each foetus was no bigger than a blueberry.

Danielle said: “The sonographer assured us it could just be a genetic size difference. She said something about a laser procedure if the difference continued but I gave it little thought. I imagined something quick and easy.”

By 16 weeks things were getting serious. Doctors had explained twin-totwin transfusion syndrome and when Teddy’s bladder became “absent” on scans, TTTS was diagnosed for sure.

Danielle said: “A disappearing bladder in the donor twin is a red flag. At 20 weeks we had the worst possible news.”

A consultant told Danielle and Joe they had to make an impossible decision.