Riverside (USA): 

Record: Martha Padgett (left) and Karen Wesolowski with their two sets of twins

A same-sex couple has made medical history by giving birth to two sets of twins within 24 hours of each other.

Karen Wesolowski and Martha Padgett spent three years undergoing IVF treatment, but could not believe it when they heard four heartbeats at a check-up.

Astonishingly each of the women gave birth to twins on the same day - but the four children born are actually quadruplets, created from Martha's eggs and donor sperm.

'Exhausted'

Karen said, "My biological clock was ticking."

"We had been trying on and off for three years and we were exhausted. We had tried using my eggs and a sperm donor and we had tried using Martha's eggs in me.

"We had literally tried everything and had spent tens of thousands of pounds on treatment. So when Martha said to me that we should both have her eggs implanted, I thought, 'Why not?'."

Martha had her babies first, Sophia and Alex, and 22 hours later her partner Karen had the twins' siblings Andrew and Sienna. We knew from research there was a chance of a multiple birth but we laughed it off. "Now we have four babies who are brothers and sisters," says Karen. "Our family is complete."