A 55 year old grandmother who gave birth to triplets last month has hit back at critics who have called her “selfish”.
Sharon Cutts and her 40-year-old boyfriend Stuart Reynolds welcomed sons Mason and Ryan and daughter Lily into their family on March 21.
Ms Cutts, who has four grown-up children from a previous relationship, said she does not care that the babies are younger than her grandchildren.
“It means they’ve got lots of playmates,” she told The Sun.
The NHS will only perform IVF up to the age of 42, so the couple went to a private clinic before travelling to Cyprus for the procedure.
Ms Cutts said: “I knew there was a possibility of multiple births because the doctor put four embryos in me, for a higher chance of conceiving.”
“At the scan we were told there were three heartbeats. Stuart was shocked and I was in tears, crying with joy.”
“The first thing I thought was: ‘Oh my God, how am I going to cope?'”
Mr Reynolds said: “I was excited, and then bricking it. Now they’re here I wouldn’t change it for the world.”
The couple, a nurse and factory worker from Boston, Lincolnshire, took out loans of £15,000 to pay the medical bills.
The pregnancy was fraught with problems and doctors advised one of the babies should be aborted due to the dangers of pregnancy at that age.
Ms Cutts refused and the triplets were born by Caesarean section, after an 11-week stay in Nottingham University Hospital. They each weighed between 4lbs and 5lbs.
She also revealed she gave herself Botox injections and fresh hair extensions in hospital before going into labour.
“I only injected a little bit, because really you shouldn’t do it while you’re pregnant,” she told The Sun.
“I sneaked out to get my hair extensions changed too. It was important to me to look my best for when the babies were born.”
People have been quick to criticise Cutts, describing her as ‘selfish’ and ‘costing the NHS money’.
“These people should mind their own business,” Cutts told The Sun.
“The consultant said my hospital stay was money well spent. If I had been sent home there would have been bigger, costlier problems,” Cutts explained.
“I could have had a bleed at home and then it would have been over two hours in an ambulance – costing a fortune.”
Cutts, who also has four older children – Charles, 21, Emma, 25, Sam, 23 and Amy, 19 – also denied claims one of her older sons had slammed her decision to go through with IVF, saying “she’s too old”.
Speaking of the moment she found out she was having twins, Cutts said: “The first thing I thought was: ‘Oh my God, how am I going to cope?’”
Her partner Reynolds added: “I was excited, and then bricking it. Now they’re here I wouldn’t change it for the world.”