Vanishing Twin Syndrome: Sarah Harris reveals her heartache after miscarriage
"There were two sacs and one of the babies was lost and one of them was okay - and that baby was Paul,"
Studio 10 host Sarah Harris has opened up about the heartbreaking miscarriage that she endured in 2015 before welcoming her son Paul.
That pregnancy was originally a multiple pregnancy with the 39yo expecting twins before a devastating miscarriage saw her suffering heavy blood loss at eight weeks, a symptom of Vanishing Twin Syndrome.
“I started bleeding really heavily,” Sarah shared with The Australian Women’s Weekly this week.
“I’d only just moved house and I’d been lifting heavy boxes and I thought, ‘I caused this’, which of course is not true.”
What is Vanishing Twin Syndrome?
Vanishing Twin Syndrome can take place during early or later pregnancy and is considered a type of miscarriage.
Vanishing Twin Syndrome is more commonly diagnosed since the development of the ultrasound technologies that allow pregnancies to be monitored more closely from the early stages of pregnancy.
When more than one embryo appears to be developing in your uterus, you might be told that you’re carrying multiples – twins, triplets etc.
On occasion, one of the embryos or fetuses may no longer be detected later in the pregnancy. The baby that doesn’t develop fully is called the vanishing twin.
When Vanishing Twin Syndrome occurs, the remaider of the foetal tissue is most likely absorbed by the remaining twin, the mother or even the placenta.
As with any miscarriage or infant loss, Vanishing Twin Syndrome can cause feelings of confusion, anxiety, and grief.
Like many women who experience Vanishing Twin Syndrome in a pregnancy, Sarah explained that was not aware that she had been pregnant with twins.
Assuming that she had experienced a complete miscarriage, Sarah was booked in for a dilation and curettage (D&C) when the the sonographer heard a heartbeat and asked the TV Host if she had “twins in the family.”
“There were two sacs and one of the babies was lost and one of them was okay – and that baby was Paul,” Sarah explained.
In December 2015 Sarah welcomed her first son, Paul, now four. Two years later she became a mum again when she welcomed Harry in December 2017.
Like many new mums, Sarah confessed that she also suffered postnatal depression after welcoming her sons, and it was her friendship with former Studio 10 co-host, Jessica Rowe that helped her manage that challenging time.
Crap Housewife, Jessica was no stranger to the debilitating condition, having suffered postnatal depression herself after the births of her own children 13yo Allegra and 10yo Giselle.
Despite all of this Sarah is not sure that the new-parent experience is completely done for her. The beloved Aussie personality has said she’ll “leave it up to the universe’ to help her decide if she will have a third child.
“I’m waiting to feel like I’m done, and I don’t think that’s quite the case yet.”
