Couple Meets Triplets Born from Their Donated Embryos 20 Years Ago: 'It's Been Amazing'

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More than 20 years after a couple made the decision to donate their remaining embryos after welcoming twins through in vitro fertilization (IVF), Brooke and Chris Martin were reunited with the children they became thanks to a 23andMe DNA test kit.

The Martins welcomed their twin boys in October 2000 after years of infertility, Today Parents reported. At the time, the couple knew they were done having children but as the boys were conceived with the help of IVF, they then had to decide what to do with embryos they hadn't used.

There were three options: donate the embryos to science, dispose of them or donate to a couple looking to expand their own family.

While now people can select who receives their embryos — or even have an open embryo adoption — that was not the case back when the couple made the decision to donate them.

"We had faith they would be taken care of," Chris told Today of their remaining embryos. "Infertility is trying and emotional and IVF is trying and emotional. We knew whoever received our embryos was going to love them and take care of them because we went through the same process. We know what it's like to want children so badly."

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In January 2021, after years of wondering about their embryos, the couple was contacted by a man named Thomas Monroe after he received a 23andMe test for his 18th birthday. Upon looking him up on Facebook, there was no mistaking who the man was.

"I burst into tears," Brooke told Today.  "He looked just like our boys. I was like, 'That's our kid — there's no doubt.' "

It wasn't until after the three exchanged a series of emails that Thomas revealed he wasn't the only child that resulted from the Martin's embryos — there were three.

"That moment and when we found out there were three of them, you don't know where to put that in your brain. There's no filing drawer in the filing cabinet of your brain for that kind of information," Brooke tells PEOPLE.

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Thomas and his siblings, Lauren and Peter, were born on Oct. 24, 2002, to Trey and Becky Monroe.

"At first, I thought they probably would all be boys because there's a lot of boys in our family," says Brooke. "So when I found out it was a girl, that was an extra special moment, and that relationship has been really special too."

The Martins began speaking to the triplets' father, as they learned their mother had recently died from cancer, and they were sure to make their intentions known.

"We wanted to let Trey know that we don't expect anything and we wanted to set boundaries that he was comfortable with," Brooke told Today.

Within days of finding out about the triplets, Brooke tells PEOPLE her twin boys "connected with them on social media and started their own separate relationships with them."

The Monroe triplets and Martin twins now refer to each other as siblings and the triplets even came to a family reunion with the Martins last July.

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"Trey has been unbelievably supportive. He brought [the triplets] and made sure they all got to the reunion," she adds. "He's even let us have access to family movies when they were growing up. It's been amazing."

Brooke, who continues to document her family's remarkable journey on a Facebook page titled Love Multiplied, says she hopes her story will help to "educate others about embryo donation and adoption."

"I want to be able to be a resource," she adds. "If you've been through in vitro and you have the embryos left over. I'd love to talk to that person, process those emotions and the possibilities, and not get upset if someone didn't choose what we did, but just to educate them."