Love Island star Olivia Bowen broke down in tears on Loose Women this week as she opened up about her difficult pregnancy. The 31-year-old, who shot to fame in 2016, was pregnant with twins before suffering from Vanishing Twin Syndrome (VTS).
VTS occurs when one twin in a multiple pregnancy disappears, leaving a single embryo behind. It is a type of miscarriage estimated to occur in 36% of twin pregnancies, with the affected baby absorbed by the surviving twin or the mother's body.
Olivia and her husband Alex discovered they were expecting twins at six weeks, but at eight weeks they learned one baby no longer had a heartbeat. 'I'd had no symptoms, no pain, no bleeding,' Olivia said. 'We were expecting to have these two little babies, but Vanishing Twin Syndrome, that is what happens.'
The couple, who already have a two-year-old son Abel Jacob, had begun planning for twins, from bedroom arrangements to car seats. Alex said: 'When you find out you're having twins, all these emotions run through your mind... and then unfortunately that just got kind of taken away.'
Despite the heartbreak, Olivia finds comfort in knowing the vanished twin's cells become part of her body. 'Those cells become a part of you, and that's what we've sort of been holding on to,' she said. 'We've got a really healthy little baby in there, that we are so excited to meet.'
