Twins born 5 years apart!!

A mother has spoken of her joy after giving birth to a much longed-for "twin" to her five-year-old son.

Reuben and Floren Blake were conceived from the same batch of embryos but were born five years apart after some embryos were frozen during fertility treatment.

Parents Simon, 45, and Jody, 38, had been trying to start a family without success and began treatment in 2005. Five embryos were created and two implanted in Mrs Blake, which resulted in the birth of Reuben on December 9, 2006.

The remaining three embryos were frozen until the couple, from Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, decided to try for another child last year. 

Floren arrived on November 16, 2011 - two weeks before her due date - but five years after her brother.

Mr Blake said: "Just in kind of mundane settings where people take an interest in a newborn baby and with Reuben around as well, I find it very difficult to resist the temptation to say 'Oh and by the way they are twins'.

"It's almost just to see people's response. They are really amazed and surprised."

His wife, a programmes manager for the children's charity WellChild, said: "It does feel quite surreal. I think people are really, really surprised and it almost takes people a few minutes to get their heads around it.

"We obviously had nine months to get it straight and to think 'Gosh, we're having Reuben's twin', but it's incredibly special.

"When we had Floren, because I had her by Caesarean, we told the theatre team and they were all absolutely blown away and excited, ecstatic really.