After years of unsuccessfully trying to start a family, this couple got the surprise of their lives

For some people, the road to parenthood can be a cruel and unforgiving journey. Doctor appointments are piling up, anxiety is mounting by the day, and the nursery remains empty until, hopefully, one day a smiling newborn can come home to live in.

This was the harsh reality for a couple named Sarah and Andy Justice from Tulsa, Oklahoma. Even after trying again and again, natural methods of creating a child just didn’t work for them. They soon decided to explore their other options, but little did they know that they might just be going for more than they anticipated.

The couple had been married for over three years and wanted nothing more than to start a family. When her doctor suggested seeing a fertility specialist some 400 miles away, the two accepted his suggestion without hesitation. The journey would be long, but the couple hoped it would be worth it in the end.

The fertility specialist heard the couple’s story and told them he could try something called in vitro fertilization for around $30,000 to $60,000. The wonders of modern science might just give the couple a chance at a natural birth after all! The only problem? The process would only give Sarah about a 10 percent chance of actually conceiving.

“We took that as a no,” Andy later said. So he and Sarah carefully considered the remaining options to create the family they so desperately wanted, and they soon decided to move on to the adoption process. However, even that turned out to be a terribly difficult path.

The couple then created what they called a “life book” — a sort of “family résumé” that they could make available to any expectant mothers who wish to put their newborns up for adoption. A few different women began reaching out to the couple in hopes of interviewing them further.

But then? “You changed your mind,” Sarah said. “It was very difficult to get your hopes up and then get disappointed and have to start over.” Despite this, Sarah and Andy never gave up hope throughout the process. Eventually, her patience and determination finally paid off. A birth mother had chosen them to be the perfect parents for her newborn baby! The couple were incredibly excited and relieved … that is, until they took the birth mother for a routine ultrasound.

It was quickly revealed that the woman would not only give birth to a newborn baby, but three New born babies! The woman was pregnant with triplets!

The children were named Elizabeth, Hannah and Joel and were all born about two months premature in 2013. The triplets weighed just three pounds each and were placed in newborn care immediately after birth. While doctors and nurses tended to the newborns, Sarah also had to see her doctor, and then the couple got another big surprise.

Against all odds, the doctor revealed to Sarah that she was actually pregnant herself! After a routine sonogram, the pictures revealed that not only was Sarah now a mother-to-be, but she was also about to give birth to twins!

“I was shocked and a little overwhelmed,” Sarah said. “I thought, I added it up and I was like, wow, if they go to term, we’re going to have about five babies in eight months. But we were really excited because it was something we had dreamed about for years.”

And so Sarah and Andy Justice gave birth to a total of five newborns. Abigail, Andrew, Joel, Hannah and Elizabeth all share a loving home with their proud parents, and the Justices finally have the big and happy family they’ve always dreamed of!

Life in their crowded household isn’t exactly easy, but both Sarah and Andy insist they wouldn’t change a thing about their experience if given the chance.

“It was something we wanted so badly and we love it,” Sarah said while looking through some family photos. “That’s not to say it’s not a lot of work and that we’re not tired a lot, but it’s great,” she added. “We just love having these kids!”