Lesbian couple celebrate first birthdays of their IVF quadruplets

But Melanie Snee and Emma Miller are a lesbian couple - and the children are their quadruplets.

Today, the babies - two of whom had to fight for their lives after being born prematurely - will celebrate their first birthday with a family party and a cake each.

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The couple, who have been in a relationship for more than decade, set their hearts on having children last year.

They decided Miss Miller would be the one to give birth and she had fertility treatment at a private clinic.

Using a sperm donor, the eggs were fertilised and the couple were delighted when they were told that four embryos had implanted in her womb.

Miss Miller gave birth to the quadruplets at 32 weeks on December 5 last year.

First-born Markus weighed in at 3lb 12oz, followed by Lucas at 3lb 7oz, Harrison at 3lb 8oz and Lara at just 3lb 6oz.

Soon after the birth, Markus developed a pneumothorax, a life-threatening condition in which air becomes trapped in his chest and lungs.

Lara later began to suffer from the same condition and the couple were forced to watch their babies fight for life.

Miss Miller, 30, said: "It can cause heart failure so it was very serious. They did an X-ray on part of Markus's lung and they discovered that it was all black.

"They didn't know whether it would fix itself, or whether he would need an operation. He was really poorly."

Miss Snee, 34, said: "It's something that you associate with premature births. The odds weren't looking very favourable for him."

Lara battled through, but Markus had to be transferred to the specialist Freeman Hospital in Newcastle upon Tyne.

He was given the all- clear in January and reunited with Miss Miller and Miss Snee, who are both customer service advisers, at their home in Houghton- le- Spring, County Durham.

Miss Miller said: "We want from the start to make sure they are all individual and to let them feel that they are individual.

"The boys wear the same clothes because it's easier to grab them rather than picking out four different outfits, but when they are older we won't do that.

"Without a doubt they are all completely different in their ways.

Markus is the little cheeky one, Harrison is the little thinker, Lara is the entertainer - she's a little comedian and dances about - and Lucas is a big lad, he has all the hair and is the one with the chubby cheeks."

The number of gay and lesbian parents is rising dramatically and more than 3,000 couples are now thought to have natural or adoptive children. Co-parenting arrangements, where a lesbian couple and gay man choose to "team up" to have children, have also become increasingly popular.

The new Human Tissues and Embryos Bill will give both women in a lesbian relationship the legal right of parents when one of them gives birth.

The change was condemned by family campaigners as a dangerous social experiment, but supporters said it was the only logical step.

The Bill states that both women should be treated as "parents" even if they are not in a civil partnership.

In those circumstances no man, such as the sperm donor, can be treated as a father so as to avoid a child having three legal parents.

The change reflects the fact that in a heterosexual couple, when the woman conceives with donor sperm, her partner is still treated as the father even though he has no biological link to the child.