The identical twins: Brother is almost twice the size of his sibling after receiving more nutrients in the womb

Identical twins tend to be, well, identical. But it seems no one told Finlay and Harrison Craven. Harrison was born weighing 4lb 4oz, compared with Finlay’s 2lb 15oz, after receiving more nutrients in the womb.

Their mother Helen Craven, 43, who gave birth nearly two months prematurely, said: ‘Finlay is only just starting to catch up with Harrison now. It has taken six months.

‘Finlay is still in his newborn clothes whereas Harrison is wearing three-month sizes. They may be identical twins but when strangers meet them they think Harrison is Finlay’s older brother.’

Finlay now weighs 11lb 8oz to his brother’s 16lb 5oz. Miss Craven, from York, is single and decided to have IVF treatment and use a sperm donor to start her family. She said: ‘I have had several relationships but have never found anyone to settle down with and have a family. When my grandmother died she left me some money and I decided to have IVF treatment alone.

‘My grandmother had always wanted me to have a family … I wasn’t getting any younger. I was already in my forties.’

She went to a clinic where her eggs were fertilised with donor sperm. One embryo was put back into her womb – and when she went for a scan she discovered it had split.

‘I had never expected to be pregnant with twins because I’d only had one embryo put back,’ she said. ‘But there were two heartbeats on the screen. It was such a shock, but I couldn’t wait.’

At 13 weeks there was already a size difference showing, so doctors monitored her closely. At 28 weeks it was discovered that Finlay was receiving no nutrients and Miss Craven was referred to hospital in Sheffield where three weeks later the twins were delivered by caesarean section.

She said: ‘It was worrying that the twins were being delivered nearly two months early, but the doctors didn’t want to risk losing Finlay.

‘I knew that they were going to be small as they were being delivered early, but we didn’t know how small Finlay was going to be. When they were born, and they were lying there side by side, the difference was remarkable. Harrison was nearly twice as big as his brother.

‘They were like David and Goliath. I just had to hope that Finlay would be strong enough to survive.’ Luckily Finlay grew strong enough to leave hospital with his brother and, six months on, is showing signs of beginning to catch up with him.

Miss Craven said: ‘He has done so well. There is no stopping him. They both have so much energy now it’s wonderful to see.

‘Just because he is half the size of his twin it hasn’t meant that he has half the energy. He may have been born smaller, but he’s certainly made up for it now.’

Daily Mail

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