Julia Bradbury's unusual names for twin girls

Julia had her first child at the age of 41, 2 years into her relationship with property developer Gerard Cunningham, 55. When they started trying for a baby she wasn’t sure it would happen as she’d been diagnosed with endometriosis – a painful condition which can affect fertility.

After Zeph was born in 2011, it took 5 rounds of IVF treatment before Julia conceived her twins. "I still pinch myself and think, 'I'm a mother of three.' All the effort, everything we went through as a family, is more than worth it," she said. "I had been very happy throughout the pregnancy but there was always this cautionary shadow on my shoulder that something could go wrong. You don't take anything for granted – the five rounds of IVF, the heartaches and failures along the way and making it through the pregnancy. So the moment I felt the deepest joy was when they were both on my chest and I thought, 'They’ve made it.'"

The 44-year-old said having twins isn't too daunting. "You have to step up to be a parent – there are always different challenges," she said. "There's the challenge of taking care of them at the same time, the physical demands, but I don’t think the concentration required for being a parent to twins is any different. I just have to be the best parent I can to all three of them, love them all the same, make sure they all feel that equal amount of attention. You can never imagine being able to love a child more than you do but you do. There’s this bottomless pit."

Congratulations Julia!

Photo: Hello! magazine

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