“17 Years in the Making: Couple’s Joyful Journey to Parenthood Culminates with the Arrival of Sextuplets.”

For 17 years, they desperately tried for a baby.

But when Ajibola Taiwo and her husband Adeboye discovered she was finally pregnant, they got more than they were bargaining for.

The couple, from Virginia, welcomed sextuplets into the world on May 11.

Ajibola was 30 weeks pregnant when she gave birth to three boys and three girls, under the watchful eye of a 40-strong team of medics.

The babies ranged in weight from just 1lb 10oz to 2lbs 15oz.

And all six are doing well, continuing the thrive while being cared for in neonatal intensive care at Children’s Hospital of Richmond.

The couple tried to conceive for almost two decades before their dreams were realised and they saw four heartbeats at their first ultrasound in November.

It wasn’t until an appointment in January at the Virginia Commonwealth University’s Medical Center that the expectant parents discovered they were actually expecting sextuplets.

“I was excited,” said proud new dad Adeboye, who is originally from Western Nigeria.

On May 11, when the babies were delivered via C-section, medics across the hospital were on hand to monitor both mum and babies.

The team included experts in maternal and foetal medicine, labour and delivery, nursing, anaesthesia, respiratory, neonatal medicine, social work and cardiology.

Dr Ronald Ramus, also part of the team that helped deliver the babies, said it was vital for the doctors and nurses to develop a relationship with the couple.

“We’re going through this extraordinary journey together with the family,” he said.

“It’s not every day that parents bring home sextuplets.

“Mrs Taiwo was eating, sleeping and breathing for seven.

Mum Ajibola was discharged from hospital on May 18, but spends most of the day back at the hospital caring for her babies.

She said: “I hope for the smallest of my six children to grow up and say, ‘I was so small, and look at me now’.

“I want my kids to come back to VCU to study and learn to care for others with the same people who cared for me and my family.”

Dr Russell Moores, added: “This is an amazing medical accomplishment that would not be possible without the outstanding coordination of our obstetrics and neonatal teams.