A BOLTON couple whose "time-warp" twins were born two years apart could become the family of the Millennium.

They have revealed to the BEN that they are "seriously considering" using their four remaining deep frozen embryos to enlarge their family.

And it could lead to the world's first time warp triplets, quads or even sextuplets.

Chris and Janet Thomas, who have negotiated an extra five years cold storage for their remaining embryos, say they have not ruled out adding to their already remarkable family.

Now nearly five-years-old, Victoria Thomas is almost twice the size of her brother Nicholas, aged two. But despite the real difference in size and age, the children are twins - conceived on the same day thanks to IVF technology.

The astonishing story of the twins born years apart was told exclusively in the BEN in July, 1996.

Proud parents, Chris and Janice, say they have not ruled out adding to their "miracle" family, or donating their frozen embryos to other childless couples.

Parents who have embryos frozen are warned that they are stored for a maximum of 10 years. After the first five years, parents are given the option of keeping them for a further five and the Thomas couple have done that.

The story, which has been extensively covered in the BEN, began in 1984 when Mr and Mrs Thomas of Braddyll Road, Over Hulton, began married life together. They were both keen to start a family, but after two years of disappointment they turned to St Mary's Hospital in Manchester, which specialises in helping childless couples.

Their inability to conceive baffled doctors, because neither showed a medical problem.

Seven years after that initial appointment the couple received a letter from St Mary's. At last it was their turn for test-tube treatment. And fortunately the NHS was providing it free. Mrs Thomas, 37, was given fertility injections. Ten eggs were collected from her and then mixed with her husband's sperm in May, 1993. Eight of the embryos were successfully fertilised.

Two days later, two of the embryos were placed in her womb, while the rest were frozen. One of the two embryos failed to survive, but the other did. And Victoria Rose - now a pupil at St Ethelbert's - was born the following February weighing a healthy 5lb 12oz.

Eighteen months after that, the delighted parents decided to embark on the process once again. And, yet again, on first attempt they were successful. Following the implantation of a further two embryos, Nicholas James was born in July 1996, weighing in at 7lb 6oz.

Delighted at being given the chance of having a second child, they named him Nicholas after the patron saint of children. Mrs Thomas, 37, who works from home as a child-minder, is keen to point out how alike her two children are.

She said: "They do look alike. They are both blonde with blue eyes. But Nicholas is just like his dad and Victoria is just like me."

Mrs Thomas says Nicholas looks set to follow in his dad's footsteps. Mr Thomas, 39, is a welder and a DIY enthusiast. And little Nicholas is apparently exactly the same.

"This morning at breakfast Victoria was crayoning, while Nicholas was happy to look at a DIY leaflet," said Mrs Thomas. "He's had loads of toys for Christmas but he still prefers to play with nails and planks of wood."

Victoria is much more like her mother, and has already developed a healthy interest in sewing, her mum's favourite pastime.

Mrs Thomas went on: "Sometimes I look at them and just can't quite believe it. And it's staggering when you consider that Nicholas was a frozen embryo for two and a half years. They are both little miracles and we feel blessed that they came for free."

The couple say they aren't ruling out another little "miracle" sometime in the future.

Without giving much away, Mrs Thomas said: "Because we didn't have any setbacks on the programme it's tempting to try again. But it's not something we've made a decision on yet. We just want to have that option."

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