TVNZ
As Jess Hodge gets busy in the MasterChef Australia kitchen, family is always at the forefront of her mind. With her wife Emily and twin three-year-old boys Arlo and Lucca back home, the landscape architect is determined to make her experience on the show shape their future for the better.
“My family helped me understand what’s important,” Jess, 36, tells Woman’s Day. “Before the twins came, I was extremely ambitious and working long hours. After they arrived, I realised I didn’t want to be spending 60-hour weeks in the office – I wanted to be at home with Em and the twins. I didn’t want to miss them growing up.”
Emily and Jess have a happy handful in twins Arlo and Lucca.
Starting a family wasn’t easy for the couple, who spent three years doing the necessary tests and preparation before starting their IVF journey.
After their first embryo implantation was unsuccessful, they decided to try their luck and implant not one, but two.
“We thought we were crazy at the time,” she admits. “We thought, ‘Surely we won’t have twins?’ But lo and behold, when Em found out she was pregnant, and we went to the first scans and heard these two little heartbeats, it was a crazy moment. And it’s been crazy ever since.”
After having the boys, Jess and Emily’s lives changed completely. And while she admits they can sometimes be a handful, she wouldn’t change her family life for anything.
“Just knowing the challenges we went through to get to that point… It took a long time – and quite an emotional toll on both of us – but we’re very happy,” she says.
