Kimberly Tucci is pictured on a beach in western Australia. She and her husband, Vaughn, are expecting quintuplets, which they conceived naturally. (Photo courtesy Erin Elizabeth Photography)
Photos of an Australian mother pregnant with quintuplets and posing on the beach have begun going viral.
Fox 5 Atlanta reported that Kimberly Tucci, of Warnbro, Australia, posed for the photos on a western Australia beach. Her photographer, Erin Hoskins, of Erin Elizabeth Photography, has received praise from across the globe for the snapshots. The images show Tucci standing in the sand next to crashing waves in sweeping, neutral-colored dresses while holding her belly.
In a caption for two photos of Tucci posted on her Facebook page, Hoskins described Tucci as “stunning” and “a goddess.”
“Kim has carried her babies all the way into the third trimester and five healthy babies are expected to arrive any day now,” Hoskins wrote in the status, which she posted Tuesday Jan. 19 and had garnered nearly 60,000 likes as of Thursday morning. “These photos were taken at 24 weeks and she could not be more beautiful...her strength just shines through in every image. A true goddess, indeed.”
Since the photos began going viral, Tucci’s blog, Surprise by Five, has also entered the spotlight for its honest discussion about what carrying five children is like. In the blog, Tucci shares that she must consume 6,000 calories a day and use the restroom 12 times throughout the night to support the growing lives in her belly.
Tucci and her husband, Vaughn, already have two daughters together: Aiva, 4, and Indiana, 2, according to Woman’s Day. Before Tucci learned she was pregnant with quintuplets, they had been trying for one more child: a boy. With Tucci’s current pregnancy, they are expecting four girls and one boy.
According to the Woman’s Day feature, Tucci did not use fertility drugs or IVF while trying to get pregnant. Doctors estimate the chance of conceiving quintuplets naturally is one in 55 million.