KERRY Hyatt, 29, is mum to 18-month-old twins Archie and Henry – and said they have a mind and language – all of their own.

Mrs Hyatt, from Witney, said: “My husband James, 34, has twins in his family – his paternal grandmother was a twin. But when the nurse showed us two babies on our scan, we were still completely bowled over.

“I said: ‘Two?’, ‘No, I’m going to be huge!’ and then I started to laugh and I could not stop.

“James just started beaming and has not stopped since.”

The couple, who also have a daughter Charleigh, nine, said that having twins had been ‘crazy’ at times, but that the hard work was outweighed by the joy they get from their identical duo.

Mrs Hyatt explained: “People said twins are often completely different and it is true with ours.

“They are like mini versions of James and I, with Archie the calm one, who is polite and sweet like his dad, and Archie more like me: bolshy and like a bull in a china shop, but also cuddly. They are very close, though, and play together all day, while Charleigh is like a little mother hen to them.”

She continued: “The boys also have a secret language that no one else is privy to. They do not talk much at the moment, but they babble away together and one will say something and the other one will follow him, or go and pick up a toy that he has obviously asked for.

“It is spooky, but really fascinating to watch.”

Mrs Hyatt started the Peas in a Pod twins club in May, to make contact with others parents of twins in her area – and she was astounded by the response.

She said: “We started meeting at the Family Café, in Ely Close, iCarterton, every Wednesday and before long, word spread and we now have 20 regular sets of twins. Witney is full of twins.”

She added: “Having two or more babies at once is a lot of work, but we wouldn’t change it for the world. We feel really privileged. I still look at them sometimes and think: “I can’t believe we made those little people!”

  • From twins to triplets, and you have to feel for the sadly departed mum of the Stansfield triplets.

She gave birth to three babies and already had four other children at home.

Irene Stansfield, 60, still lives in Marston, Oxford, just a few doors away from where she grew up with her triplet brother Derek, and sister Sandra Cox, and their three other brothers and sister.

The Stansfield triplets were born 60 years ago, in March 1951, at Oxford’s Churchill Hospital.

Irene weighted two pounds, Sandra was four pounds and Derek was five and they were a shock to everyone!

Miss Stansfield explained: “Our dad was a twin and all through mum’s pregnancy with us they thought they were having twins too. Then at the birth, the midwife told Dad, there’s another one! And he couldn’t believe it.”

The triplets’ mum Eve had been in hospital for months before their birth, suffering with high blood pressure. She and her new babies stayed in for several more weeks afterwards, until they were a suitable weight.

The baby triplets returned home to their house in Copse Lane, where their three brothers and a sister were waiting for them.

Miss Stansfield continued: “Our dad Alan worked as a pattern maker at Pressed Steel and mum managed to hold down a series of part-time jobs and look after all us children, with plenty of help from friends, family and neighbours. There was always someone offering to take us out.”

The triplets attended New Marston First School and later Northway Secondary Modern.

Miss Stansfield said: “At school we were all put in the same class and even when we went out to work in the 1960s we all got jobs at Oxford University Press – Sandra and I in the bookbinding department and Derek in the press.”

Only Sandra married and later moved to Risinghurst and had three children – not triplets, incidentally.

Derek later followed his dad to Pressed Steel, but is now retired and lives in Horspath, while Irene, also retired, moved into another house in Copse Lane.

She said: “We have always been really close, and still are.”

  • Marina and Nick Smy celebrate their children’s milestones in multiples of four and they are now bracing themselves for the terrible teens as their quadruplets turn 13 in September.

Quads William, Jack, Rosie and Jamie were born at Oxford’s John Radcliffe Hospital on September 24, 1998, weighing a total of 15lbs.

Dad Nick, 49, a senior driver for a lorry firm, explained: “First the doctors told us Marina was growing so quickly because she was further along in her pregnancy than they had earlier thought.

“Then they said it was because she was having triplets and we were amazed.

“Then they said they had more news and I knew from the doctor’s face it was serious. They did another scan and that’s when we saw there were four heartbeats.”

Mrs Smy, 47, a teaching assistant at North Kidlington Primary School, said: “It does not seem possible that they are about to become teenagers. But it has been a big year – their first at secondary school. They are doing well and they are happy, and now they are looking forward to a big joint birthday party.”

The quads are pupils at Gosford School in Kidlington, and share a passion for sports and their jointly owned 125cc motorcycle.

Jack aims to join the Army, William wants to join the RAF, Rosie plans to join the police and Jamie hopes to be an archaeologist or gardener.

Mrs Smy said: “They are typical 12-year-olds in that they love computers and their mobile phones and sports.

“They can also be a bit cheeky, but they are also close, and Nick and I feel very lucky to have had four, healthy children.

“Of course, having four of the same age has not been easy, but the days of feeding and potty training them are thankfully way behind us, and they are pretty independent children – although now I am running around like their taxi driver instead.”

  • The Fazackerley triplets were lucky to survive when they were born in 1949, but James was to prove even luckier when he fathered twins of his own.

James, John and Gerald Fazackerley were born in Oxford’s Radcliffe Infirmary on February 1, 1949, and were lucky to get through the first few weeks of life at a time when few sets of triplets survived.

James, now 62, a part-time mechanic, explained: “We only weighed two and half pounds and our mum Frances didn’t get to see us properly for several weeks.

“But we made good progress and eventually went home. We had great fun growing up, pretending to be each other and getting into mischief.”

All three boys still live in the area – James in Mill Street, Kidlington; Gerald in Compton Court, Long Compton, near Chipping Norton; and John in Colwell Drive, Witney.

And James had a huge surprise at the birth of his first ‘child’ in 1981.

He explained: “My wife Leslie found out we were having twins at 19 weeks into her pregnancy, but she thought she’d keep it a surprise – and it was certainly that!

Non-identical twins Emma and Anna, now 30, said they had enjoyed being a family of multiples.

Anna, 30, a student at Ruskin College, Oxford, said: “My dad and his brothers are very similar, especially our dad and our Uncle John – and there have been times when I have mistaken them.”

Mum Leslie, 63, said: “Emma, who is an accountant, is getting married in July and we are waiting to see now whether she will follow the tradition and have twins – or maybe even triplets.”