Woman on IVF pregnant with second set of quads

AN AUSTRALIAN mother due to give birth to her second set of quads in a possible world-first has a 50% chance of delivering prematurely or with abnormalities, an IVF specialist said.

The four babies are due in December when the first set of siblings are 16-month-old toddlers.

Dale Chalk, 26, of Brisbane, gave birth to two girls and two boys in August using in-vitro fertilisation.

Dale and her husband also have a fifth child, a two-year-old girl, Shelby.

All nine have been conceived using sperm from the same anonymous donor, who shared Mr Chalk's physical characteristics, through infertility treatment.

After the birth of her first set of quads Ellie, Emma, Joseph and Samuel, born 13 weeks premature Mrs Chalk said they wanted as many as 12 children. She said she would be delighted if she had another set of quads.

At the time, she said: "If we had quads again that would be the bee's knees. That would be the icing on the cake. We want to start trying for more babies straight away, but our doctor advised us to wait a little while."

Mr Chalk has a rare condition that prevents him producing live sperm.

Queensland Fertility Group's Dr Warren DeAmbrosis said he had not heard of another case of a woman having two sets of quads.

"It's very rare," he said. "It could be a world-first.

"I've never heard of it happening anywhere else."

But doctors yesterday warned they face a high risk of seeing the new quadruplets born prematurely or with abnormalities.

"There's at least a 50% chance that these babies will be delivered early and that places significant risks on the babies, but it also places significant emotional and economic costs on both the family and the community," said Sydney IVF clinical director Mark Bowman.

"Prematurity and abnormalities are the two single biggest issues in multiple pregnancies, even twins."

David Wood, a paediatrician from Brisbane's Mater Hospital neo-natal intensive care unit, said Mrs Chalk deserved a medal for what she would go through.

"The risk is of prematurity and low birth weight and the high risk of death, or chronic lung disease or intra-cranial haemorrhage as well as a whole host of other problems," he said.

"I have looked after two sets of quads and they were certainly a lot of trouble both in the hospital, with all their problems, and then when the mother took them home. This lady needs a few of these new medals that are coming out for having two sets of quads." Dr DeAmbrosis said he was happy for the couple, but was also anxious about the risks involved.

"I am very happy because that's what they wanted," he said. "But I'm not happy that a multiple pregnancy has occurred again. I have big concerns because there's an increased risk of premature birth and it's not something I was looking for," he said.

"With the ovulation induction, we aim to get only two or maybe three eggs.

"You really shouldn't have more than that. They took a long time to get pregnant with the first set of quads, but this time it was one go and bang. I guess that's nature."

The family lives with Mrs Chalk's parents, who extended their home to fit the family. When the quads were born, Mrs Chalk's mother, Sue, resigned from her job as a nurse to help as full-time carer.