A single mother has revealed the heartbreak of raising one-in-a-million twins with Down's syndrome and wishes she could make their disabilities disappear.
Emma Mullard, 36, found out she was pregnant with her twins just weeks after turning off life support for her baby girl who also had Down's syndrome.
The devoted mother-of-five is a full-time carer for her boys, Alfie and Arthur, who are now six years old.
The boys are one of only 29 sets worldwide, and can't communicate, have autism, weak muscle tone, and use walkers or wheelchairs to move around.
Despite saying she adores them, Miss Mullard has revealed she understands why mothers want terminations when they find out their child will have Down's syndrome.
Emma Mullard, 36, has revealed the heartbreak of raising one-in-a-million twins with Down's syndrome and wishes she could make their disabilities disappear
Alfie and Arthur, who are now six years old, are cared for by their mother, from Lancashire
The boys can't communicate, have autism, weak muscle tone, and use walkers or wheelchairs to move around. Pictured, one of the boys having physical therapy
Miss Mullard said: 'People say to me, "Don't you love them as they are?" And I absolutely do, but anyone who has a child with a disability would whip it away from them if they could.
'The oldest man in the world with Down's syndrome is around 70 and I see adults who have died at 40 or 50, and that's not old.
'It's frightening to know that they could go that young. I don't want to get old and have to bury my boys.'
When Miss Mullard, of Preston, Lancashire, fell pregnant again, she had no idea the twins she was carrying also had the condition, but felt sure it would not strike twice.
The Down's Syndrome Library state that it occurs in only one or two in a million twin births
Miss Mullard had said goodbye to her five-month-old baby, Molly, in August 2011, just weeks before discovering she was pregnant again.
Molly had a multitude of Down's syndrome related problems - including a heart murmur and under-developed lungs - and a machine was keeping her alive.
Miss Mullard said: 'When I found out I was having them I thought to myself, "They're not going to have Down's syndrome, which is caused by an extra chromosome, because it's too unlikely".'
When Alfie and Arthur were delivered by C-section at 36 weeks on July 4 2012 at Royal Preston Hospital, weighing 6lbs and 6lb 12oz, Miss Mullard saw their unmistakable features and knew they had Down's syndrome.
The condition typically causes mild learning disabilities and certain physical characteristics, but can make people more prone to health problems like heart and thyroid disorders.
Miss Mullard, who is also mother to Harry, 14, Ben, 13, and Elsie, three, had just finished teacher training when her twins were born, but quit her job to care for them
Miss Mullard had said goodbye to her five-month-old baby, Molly, in August 2011, just weeks before discovering she was pregnant again. Pictured, Molly's grave
Alfie and Arthur were not diagnosed with Down's syndrome until they were born by C-section
Doctors were unable to diagnose Down's syndrome before the birth, but had discovered that the twins were showing signs of a developmental problem at the 11 week scan.
Miss Mullard said: 'I remember the midwife holding Alfie up and I saw the same features that Molly had. I knew as soon as they were born that they had Down's syndrome.
'The medics swooped them away and my initial thought was that was the last time I was going to see them alive.
'I thought I was going to lose another child all over again, it was so scary.
'Even now I panic when the kids have a cold or anything. When you've lost a child, you know how quickly they can be taken away from you.'
Describing the moment she lost Molly, Miss Mullard said: 'She didn't even come home. I knew she had Down's syndrome when I was pregnant, but she was born with everything possible connected to it wrong with
