Single mother age 58 who gave birth to IVF twins asks 'What have I done?'

Three weeks have passed since Carole Hobson brought her IVF twins home from hospital and it’s clear her once ordered life as a mature, single career woman has been completely turned on its head.

A sky-high pile of freshly-washed babygros, bedding and towels sits on the dining table and the ironing board stands permanently in the living room. With the volume of washing, there is obviously little point in putting it away.

She tries to snatch a quick toasted cheese sandwich while son Matthew and daughter Freida sleep upstairs, but manages only a mouthful before the babies start crying in unison.

‘As you can hear, they both have a lusty set of lungs,’ she smiles, padding upstairs to lift Freida gently from her cot while replacing Matthew’s dummy.

Carole is averaging just two or three hours of sleep a night and admits to feeling completely exhausted at times with the relentless routine of feeding, burping, changing, washing and sterilising bottles. After all, she does not have a partner to share the strain.

And at 58, she is embarking on first-time motherhood at an age when most women are looking forward to retirement, grandchildren, holidays and a spot of gentle gardening.

‘I have about two hours a day to myself, to do everything that needs to be done,’ says Carole wearily, as her two dogs Milly and Lucy bark from a room downstairs in the vain hope of walkies. I don’t even have time to read a book any more, let alone eat a proper meal. Some days I feel almost mad with exhaustion.’

Carole’s only been out of the house once so far; to Bluewater shopping centre in Kent this week where a quick trip to the hairdressers was far from a relaxing treat and had to be abruptly curtailed. ‘Matthew chose that moment to do an explosive nappy,’ laughs Carole.

‘I was sitting in the salon chair saying: “You are going to have to hurry up!” It was all rather stressful.

But is she happy? Carole, a 58-year-old former barrister and trained social worker, spent £20,000 and underwent five rounds of IVF treatment — using donor eggs and sperm — to realise her dream of becoming a mother.

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