Former Countryfile presenter Julia Bradbury says she had to “pinch” herself after giving birth to twins at the age of 44.

The broadcaster, who already has a three-year-old son Zephyr with partner Gerard Cunningham, had the girls, named Xanthe and Zena, after undergoing IVF.

Julia Bradbury shows off Xanthe and Zena (Hello!)
Julia Bradbury shows off Xanthe and Zena (Hello!)

She told Hello! Magazine: “It’s my dream come true and I feel incredibly lucky.

“I still pinch myself and think, ‘I’m a mother of three.’ All the effort, everything we went through as a family, is more than worth it.

“I had been very happy throughout the pregnancy but there was always this cautionary shadow on my shoulder that something could go wrong. You don’t take anything for granted – the five rounds of IVF, the heartaches and failures along the way and making it through the pregnancy. So the moment I felt the deepest joy was when they were both on my chest and I thought, ‘They’ve made it.’”

She said she is ready to “step up” to the challenge of having two new babies, saying: “There’s the challenge of taking care of them at the same time, the physical demands, but I don’t think the concentration required for being a parent to twins is any different.

“I just have to be the best parent I can to all three of them, love them all the same, make sure they all feel that equal amount of attention. You can never imagine being able to love a child more than you do but you do. There’s this bottomless pit.”

Read the full interview in the latest issue of Hello! on sale now.