My designer miracles
Triplets for mum who had killer gene screened out by IVF medics
WHEN Charly King’s mother was diagnosed with a fatal brain disease, her daughter was determined her children would not inherit the killer genes.
And now here she is pictured with her amazing designer triplets – born free from the life-threatening condition.
Jack, Billie and Spencer King look like any other babies, but they were carefully chosen by doctors so they would not develop the rare illness – similar to CJD, the human form of mad cow disease – that killed their grandmother Jane.
Doctors who created embryos from Mrs King’s eggs and her husband’s sperm removed cells to check if they carried the genetic condition. The £5,000 pre-implantation genetic diagnosis meant the triplets were guaranteed to be healthy before entering their mother’s womb. A clinic in Cyprus put four embryos back in Mrs King’s womb, which is not allowed in the UK, and she became pregnant with three babies.
While genetic screening is used in Britain, it is extremely rare for a woman to have triplets which are all ‘designer babies’.
Mrs King, 30, said: ‘We are just so thankful that our triplets have been born safe and well and free from this disease. It was devastating to lose Mum and now I can be sure that this disease hasn’t been passed on to our babies.’
The Tesco worker, who lives with her 33-year- old husband Ryan, lost her mother in April last year, when she was three months pregnant.
Jane King had Gerstmann- Straussler-Scheinker disease – where damaged proteins called prions kill brain cells.
Charly King, from Bedford, said: ‘I wasn’t prepared to fall pregnant naturally and risk the baby having this condition.
‘So we decided to have this treatment abroad in Cyprus – and we wanted to try for a multiple pregnancy so that we could complete our family in one go.’
The couple flew to Cyprus in May 2017, but their first attempt at fertility treatment ended with Mrs King having a miscarriage.
They flew back for a second try in January last year and an early scan showed they were going to have triplets. It was a difficult pregnancy, with one doctor advising a termination after it emerged that tiny Billie was being starved of nutrients.
But all three babies were born nine weeks early, on July 28, and were allowed home two months later.
Mrs King said: ‘They are doing really well now. Jack and Spencer now weigh 15lb and Billie is still the smallest at 10lb, but they are all real little fighters.’
The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, which regulates UK IVF treatment, recommends that clinics transfer only one embryo to avoid multiple births, and says three should be the maximum.