Woman has twins after one-night stand as morning after pill doesn't work for little known reason
A new mum is urging women to be aware of the limitations of the morning after pill after she ended up having twins when it didn't work for her.
Holly Firth wouldn't change things for the world now and believes her pregnancy was 'meant to be' - even if it did come as quite the surprise.
The 29-year-old explained she had a one-night stand with a fellow guest while attending a family friend's wedding back in July last year.
She went to get the morning after pill the following day and says she 'thought nothing more' of her unexpected encounter, until a couple of weeks later.
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After the smell of an air freshener in work began to turn her stomach, Holly's suspicions were raised and so she grabbed herself a pregnancy test.
To her 'utter shock', it revealed that she was expecting - so you can imagine her surprise when she attended an eight-week scan and discovered she was having twins.
Holly welcomed her baby girls, Charlotte and Rose, into the world via a planned c-section on 27 February.
The bank worker, from Ayrshire, Scotland, said of her impromptu journey into motherhood: "When I found out I was pregnant I burst into tears. It was just utter shock.
"I was single and I didn't know the guy. I remember going out for dinner that night with my mum and dad and saying to them that it meant double the love.
"I knew from then that it was meant to be."
Holly is raising the girls solo as their father has chosen to have no involvement, although the new mum says the 'door will always be open' if he wants to reach out in the future.
She explained that although she has always dreamed of becoming a mum, she had made peace with the fact she might not ever start a family as she had 'been single for so long'.
In wake of her romantic liaison with the wedding guest, she intended to take the morning after pill to be on the safe side, saying it has 'never failed' her before.
But what she didn't realise was that the drug - which can stop a pregnancy if taken within three to five days after sex - can sometimes be ineffective.
It works by delaying ovulation, the process in which an egg is released from an ovary, and this typically takes place in middle of the menstrual cycle.
But if you have already ovulated, the morning after pill won't stop you from conceiving, according to Clearblue, and it 'won’t terminate a fertilised egg or prevent it from implanting'.
Holly didn't realise that she had already ovulated, meaning the emergency contraceptive she took the day after the one-night stand was futile.
"I've taken the morning after pill for other reasons in the past and it's never failed me before, so I thought it would be absolutely fine," she said.
"I've since found out however that it doesn't work if you've already ovulated, which they didn't tell me when I went to get it. My period was actually due the day after the wedding, so I had definitely already ovulated and I think that's why it didn't work."
Although the mum 'wasn't planning to get pregnant', she says she 'wouldn't have it any other way' now her identical twins are here.
"Regardless of if it was from a one night stand or from a relationship - I've got the girls and I wouldn't have them if it didn't happen," Holly said. "I remember seeing them for the first time and feeling such an amount of love that I'd never felt before in my entire life.
"I can't imagine my life without them now. We're going to be the three musketeers for the rest of our lives.
"I have said to the dad that the door will always be open for him, if he ever wants it. He hasn't used it yet, but if the girls ever want to reach out there will be ways of doing that."
"If that's what they want then as long as they're happy, I'm happy," she added.
Topics: Health, Parenting, UK News, Sex and Relationships
Olivia Burke