Irish Lesbian's Partner Expecting Quintuplets

Amazingly, the five babies were conceived without IVF treatment - which medical experts say happens only once in 65 million pregnancies.

"People don't know whether to congratulate us or commiserate," said Rosemary Nolan, 21, "But we think it's a miracle and couldn't be happier."

Ms Nolan and her partner, Melissa Keevers, 27, live in Brisbane, Australia and already have one daughter, Lily, who is one-year-old.

They used the same anonymous sperm donor in this case meaning all siblings will be genetically related.

Dr Glenn Gardener, Ms Keevers' obstetrician, said the babies had strong heartbeats and were healthy, but that "the sheer number of babies in this case makes the risk very much higher for the pregnancy."

However, he said they have a good chance of survival because each had their own gestational sacs.

News of the pregnancy first appeared in Australian magazine Woman's Day last week, but has since been picked up by media outlets around the world.

"We know that it's a risk," Ms Nolan told the magazine, "and we had the option to terminate one or more, but how can you choose?

"Nature decided to give us these babies so nature can decide for us."

She knows a thing or two about multiple births - she herself is a twin.

She met her partner, Melissa, in Brisbane after leaving Ireland in 2008 to travel around Australia.

Her family in Ireland is in constant contact with her since the news became public.

Her father Paul Nolan, told the Irish Independent that they were shocked when they heard the news.

"They already have one child and they decided to have another," he said, "Little did they know they would end up with five!

"Our biggest concern right now is for the health of mum and the babies, and that they make it through the full term without complications."

Melissa Keevers admits: "It took me a long time to get my head around what was happening.

"But now I've come to terms with it, I'm excited."

Doctors estimate they will deliver the babies at around 30 weeks, which falls at the end of December.

On top of the medical concerns, the couple are now daunted by the financial costs of raising six children at once.

They said the thought of buying five car seats and cots was "overwhelming".

They've estimated they will need 70 nappies each day, and plan to import a special six-seater pram from America.

The sperm donor is a US law student, who signed away any rights to the children, which means he will never meet them.

"He was doing it to help himself through college," Ms Keevers said, "We will never meet him... we have all signed a waiver to say it's anonymous."

However, the couple do plan to explain to their children that they were conceived with the help of a donor once they are old enough to understand.

"We will say that we couldn't make a baby and so we went to the doctor and he helped," she told Woman's Day.