On Wednesday, a blogging couple became the target of excoriating criticism after announcing how “pissed” they were about expecting twins. Describing the twin pregnancy as an unexpected side effect of in vitro fertilization (IVF), the parents-to-be asserted that the artificial insemination had “ruined” their family. The anonymous post quickly caught the attention of media outlets as well as internet commentators, who unanimously decried the couple’s rage as embarrassing and juvenile.

“To say we’re excited would be an exaggeration,” the father wrote. “More truthfully, we’re pissed. And terrified, and angry, and guilty, and regretful. Why regretful? Because we brought this on ourselves. This is what we wanted, so to speak.”

According to CNN, the couple had unsuccessfully tried to conceive for some time, and decided to turn to artificial methods. First, they tried intrauterine insemination – a costly procedure in which the sperm is washed, concentrated, and inserted at an optimal time. But after several failed attempts, they gave up.

Given the difficulties of conceiving after 40, the couple decided to step up their game with IVF. In this procedure, eggs are fertilized outside the body and then implanted into the woman womb. To increase the chances of inducing pregnancy, physicians sometimes load several embryos.

The couple opted for two embryos. “Unfortunately,” both of them stuck.

"I lay on the table – dazed and unhappy – as I received the news that there were two healthy sacs present," mother wrote in a separate post. "We were pregnant with twins – twin boys, we'd find out later. In my mind I had done nothing less than ruin our family."

For a moment, they contemplated aborting one of the fetuses. “Give us a reason,” they thought, urging physicians to run tests for genetic abnormalities and divergences. However, both of the boys were in great shape.

In a somewhat crass analogy, the father compared the gestational term to a terminal cancer patient’s last months.

According to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), a woman undergoing IFV has approximately a 22-fold increased chance of conceiving a twin pregnancy, and a 100-fold risk of conceiving a triplet pregnancy. While it’s unclear whether the coupe knew about these statistics, physicians generally discuss all possible outcomes prior to any procedure.