'I was devastated' Mum who carried dead baby to save his twin brother opens up about heartbreaking experience

A mum who carried her dead son in the womb for 15 weeks in order to save his twin brother has spoken out about her devastating experience.

Emma Dutton was overjoyed when she found out she was having twins in February last year, when she went to hospital for her 18 week scan.

Telling her story on a GoFundMe page, Emma explained how doctors then told her and partner Mark, 34, they were seeing signs of a condition called twin to twin transfusion syndrome (TTTS).

TTTS is a disease of the placenta that allows blood to flow unevenly between the babies, meaning one gets too much and the other not enough.

'We were sat back in the waiting room and couldn't believe we'd now got to think of two boys names when we couldn't even think of one', she wrote.

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'We were then dealt the blow that we were showing signs twin to twin transfusion syndrome (TTTS).'

Emma was then referred to Birmingham Women's Fetal Unit for specialised care, where she had surgery to try to fix the problem. The procedure went well, and both of her boys were fine.

'We were scanned afterwards and the good news was that the boys survived the surgery.

'On February 29th (20+1weeks) we went for our follow up scan and my little boy lay on the screen not moving, no little wriggles, no little bubbles, and no heartbeat. That image will never leave my memory', Emma shared on her GoFundMe page.

'He was given the name Elijah. The next 15 weeks went by in a daze and on 16.6.16 we welcomed our beautiful boys.'

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Oliver is now nine months old

Talking to Mirror Online about the sad experience, Emma said: 'We tried for ages to have a baby, so when we were told it was twins it was amazing.

'To have that news and then be told one of them had died was just absolutely devastating. After that, I was convinced I'd lose the other one too.

'I couldn't enjoy the rest of the pregnancy. I stopped talking to my belly and I didn't want to bond with my baby in case he left us too.'

The mum also spoke about the 'overwhelming guilt' she felt for not preparing to welcome Elijah, while she was preparing to have Oliver.

'It was just an awful situation and the guilt was overwhelming. From then on, whenever I bought something for Oliver I felt awful that I wasn't buying something for Elijah as well.'

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Emma and Mark welcomed their son Oliver on June 16 last year

'He [Elijah] stayed with me until he was born. It was incredibly sad, but I'm also pleased they had the chance to be born together.'

Emma shared her story on her GoFundMe page in order to raise money for Tamba, the UK's leading twins and triplets charity.

'We are raising money so hopefully in time, no other parents have to lose their babies, and no other brothers or sisters have to grow up without their twin', she wrote on her page.

So far they have raised £500 of their £1000 target, with many people showing their support for the cause.

'I'm a mummy to a little boy on earth and a little boy in heaven. I'm raising money for the TTTS Appeal run by TAMBA Mark, Oliver and I will be completing the Great Midlands Fun Run in June this year as well as selling off clothes old and new to raise money', one mum wrote.