A mother has given birth to her third consecutive set of twins, meaning she’s had six babies in the past five years.
Jolene Mckee, 32, and her husband, Andrew, 33, from Brooklyn, New York, are now a family of eight after recently welcoming their third set of twins, Aiden and Jaiden, who are now almost 6 months old.
The mother-of-six says it has been a “blessing” to get six children from three pregnancies and since twins are all that they know to care for, she has felt more like a pro each time.
The couple are parents to Peyton and Paige, 5, Abigail and Andrew, 3, and the newest additions, Aiden and Jaiden.
“I never envisioned myself with a big family. I thought I'd only have maybe one or two kids,” Jolene said. “I feel so lucky that we have all three combinations too, girl twins, boy-girl twins, and now our boy twins. It worked out perfectly.”
Before Jolene became pregnant with her first set of twins, she had suffered from a miscarriage three months prior.
“I was so scared to go to the doctors for the scan after going through the pain of miscarrying. I was panicking the whole time because they were taking so long and they called someone else in the room,” Jolene said. “And then they told me I was expecting twins.
I couldn’t believe it. It was beautiful.”
Two years later, Jolene discovered that she was pregnant again and that she was expecting another set of twins.
She recalls having an inkling that she was pregnant with another set of twins, but said she was still shocked when the news was confirmed, with her husband also in shock.
“When I discovered I was pregnant with twins for the third time, I just fully accepted that this must be what I was appointed to do,” she said.
“All of my pregnancies went really smoothly, but it was very different the second and third time around, being pregnant while also being an active mom. But I just had to push through.”
Jolene admits that, after giving birth to Abigail and Andrew, it was challenging having two sets of twins. However, raising twins was all that they knew, so it felt easier with each set they gave birth to.
“We knew how to handle it,” she said. “After falling pregnant for the third time, I was 100 percent sure it couldn’t be another set of twins.”
She believed it was only going to be one baby.
“So when we found out it was twins for the third time, we were in shock and the doctor was just as shocked as us,” Jolene added. “He said that, in 25 years, he had never seen a woman have three sets of twins.”
Jolene explained that the reason for her having so many sets of twins is due to her having an overactive uterus, which she said causes her to drop two eggs at a time, but that she’s accepted that this is what is for her and that she “loves it.”
“Each child has their own different personalities and, although they’re twins, they each have their own little buddies,” Jolene said. “My favorite thing is watching them grow and progress. It really warms my heart.”
According to Jolene, since they’re a young couple, most people don’t believe that all the kids belong to them. However, after they share their story, people tend to find it fascinating.
The couple said that organizing with six kids is challenging and that it takes a lot to enforce a good schedule.
“It’s sometimes hard to keep up with all the laundry too, I do at least six loads of washing each week,” Jolene said. “But all the kids are really close and get on very well.
“I love our family and I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
