Britain’s oldest mum of quadruplets has celebrated her babies’ first birthdays.
Tracey Britten, now 51, hit the headlines last year when she gave birth to four IVF babies at 31 weeks. After surviving weeks in intensive care, her miracle quartet defied the odds to see their first birthday on October 26.
Bitten, who has three adult children, celebrated by taking her one-year-olds to visit their grandma’s grave in Preston. Pauline Smith, died in 2007 and left her daughter Tracey £7,000, which she spent on IVF to have the babies.
The mum, who now lives in London, said: “If it wasn’t for mum leaving me that inheritance then I wouldn’t have been able to have the IVF.
“I’ve always wanted to do this on their first birthday to say thank you to her.”
The 51-year-old and her husband Stephen, 40, explored the option of IVF after unsuccessfully trying for a baby naturally.
After being deemed too old for the treatment on the NHS, the couple travelled to a clinic in Cyprus, where Bitten had a successful round of IVF. She gave birth to George, identical twins Francesca and Fredrica and sister Grace, in London on October 26 2018.
The babies came into the world more than a decade after her mum’s death. “Mum always wanted one of her girls to have twins and so I feel blessed that I was able to do that for her,” she said.
“She was a wonderful person, she would give you her last penny.”
Bitten describes Francesca as a “bossy boots”, who, if she cries, sets off Fredrica. She said Grace “is her own person, nice and placid”, and George is “laughing from when he gets up to when he goes to bed”.
When Bitten found out she was pregnant with four babies last year she “nearly fell off the bed”.
“I was crying, thinking I can’t have seven kids, no way,” she said. “I’d gone from three kids to seven in seconds. I felt like I was having an out-of-body experience.
“When I got home and told Stephen he was as happy as Larry. He just said at least we don’t need to have any more.”
Their joy turned to heartbreak during the pregnancy when doctors revealed one of the identical twins was taking the blood supply of her sister. But fortunately, the pregnancy progressed well and the babies all survived.
Due to their premature birth, the babies are not yet crawling, and only began sitting up six weeks ago. “They will be mobile soon, but it doesn’t bother me,” added Bitten. “I’ve got a big playpen and I will use that for when I need to go and do something in the house.”