Jolene Mckee, 32, and her husband Andrew, 33, from Brooklyn, New York, are now a family of eight after recently welcoming their third set of twins, Aiden and Jaiden, who are now almost 6 months old.
The mother-of-six says it’s a “blessing” to have six children after three pregnancies. As they have grown accustomed to caring for twins, she feels more competent each time.
Peyton and Paige, 5; Abigail and Andrew, 3; and Aiden and Jaiden, newborns, are the couple’s children.
“I never imagined myself having a big family. I thought maybe I would only have one or two kids,” Jolene said. “I feel so lucky to have had all three possible combinations: two twin girls, twins a boy and a girl and now our two twin boys. It’s perfect.”
Jolene had a ᴍɪsᴄᴀʀʀɪᴀɢᴇ three months before she got pregnant with her first twins.
“I was so sᴄᴀʀᴇᴅ to go to the doctor for the ᴜʟᴛʀᴀsᴏᴜɴᴅ after going through the ᴘᴀɪɴ of a ᴍɪsᴄᴀʀʀɪᴀɢᴇ. I freaked out because they were taking a long time and called someone else into the room,” she added. “Then they told me I was expecting twins. I could not believe it. It was wonderful.”
Two years later, Jolene found out she was pregnant again and expecting another set of twins.
She recalls suspecting she was pregnant with twins, but was still in sʜᴏᴄᴋ when the news was confirmed. Her husband was also in sʜᴏᴄᴋ.
“When I found out I was pregnant with twins for the third time, I just accepted that was what had to happen,” she said.
“All of my pregnancies have gone really well, but it was very different the second and third time, which was being pregnant while being a working mum. But I persevered.”
Jolene admits that after giving birth to Abigail and Andrew, having two sets of twins was difficult. However, since she and her husband had experience raising twins, it seemed easier each time.
“We knew how to do it,” she explains. “After getting pregnant for the third time, I was 100% sure it couldn’t be another set of twins.”
She believed there would only be one baby.
“So when we found out it was twins for the third time, we were in sʜᴏᴄᴋ, and the doctor was just as surprised as we were,” she added. “He said that in 25 years he had never seen a woman have three sets of twins.”
Jolene explained that the reason she has had so many sets of twins is because of her very active ᴜᴛᴇʀᴜs, which she says ʀᴇʟᴇᴀsᴇs two ᴇɢɢs at once. However, she has come to terms with her situation and admits that she is happy as well.
“Each child has a different personality, and although they are twins, they each have their own boyfriends,” she pointed out. “What I like most is seeing them grow and progress. It really warms my heart.”
According to Jolene, since they are a young couple, most people don’t believe that all the children belong to them. However, once they share their story, people tend to find it fascinating.
The couple admit that getting organized with six children is a real challenge and that it takes a lot of resources to implement a good schedule.
“It’s sometimes hard to keep up to date with all the laundry, I do at least six washes a week,” she added.
“But all the children are very close and get along very well.”
“I love our family as it is and I wouldn’t want it any other way.”
