Woman with Dual Uteruses Delivers Twins
Remarkable case of a woman with two uteruses defies odds as she successfully gives birth to twins, one day apart Uncover the astonishing journey of this Alabama woman with a rare condition in our extraordinary article
An Alabama woman with a rare condition of having two uteruses gave birth to twins last week, a day apart. Kelsey Hatcher endured a combined 20 hours of labor to deliver her third and fourth children, a rare set of twins, on Tuesday and Wednesday, according to a news release from the University of Alabama at Birmingham Hospital.
Hatcher was induced at 39 weeks and throughout labor had twice the monitoring and twice the charting and was assigned two labor and delivery nurses, the release says.
Kelsey Hatcher welcomed twin girls into the world earlier this year, conceived in both of her two uteruses. She is pictured holding Roxi on the left and Rebel on the right.
Andrea Mabry/University of Alabama at Birmingham Hospital
Baby A, named Roxi, was delivered vaginally at 7:45 p.m. on December 19 to the cheers of everyone in the room. Dr. Shweta Patel, the obstetrician, explained that while the first baby was born, the second one, named Kelsey, was still in labor in one uterus while undergoing the postpartum process in the other.
During contractions with Baby B, Hatcher was already breastfeeding Baby A, as observed by Patel. Almost 10 hours later, Rebel, Baby B, was born via Cesarean section at 6:10 a.m. on December 20th.
"After such a long and crazy journey, it meant the world to see both of my girls together for the first time," Hatcher said.
Roxi, on the left, was born on December 19 at 7:45 p.m., weighing 7 pounds 7 ounces, while Rebel, on the right, was born on December 20 at 6:10 a.m., weighing 7 pounds 3.5 ounces.
Andrea Mabry/University of Alabama at Birmingham Hospital
Doctors have stated that the girls can be considered fraternal twins, despite being born on different days and developing in separate wombs during pregnancy. Richard O. Davis, a professor in the UAB Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine, co-managed the pregnancy and shared this perspective.
"At the end of the day, there were two babies in one belly simultaneously. They simply had their own separate living spaces," Davis noted.
Case studies suggest that the likelihood of a woman with two uteruses carrying a baby in each at the same time is approximately 1 in 2 billion in the general population, although it is impossible to determine with certainty due to the rarity of such occurrences.
A surprising discovery
"We could never have imagined having a pregnancy and birth like this, but our ultimate goal was to bring our two healthy baby girls into the world safely, and UAB helped us achieve that," stated Hatcher. "It's fitting that they each have their own birthdays. They each have their own unique birth stories now that they have their own individual identities."
Hatcher, who had previously spoken to CNN, was born with a rare condition called uterine didelphys, which means she has two uteruses.
At her first ultrasound appointment, around eight weeks into her pregnancy, things took an unexpected turn. The technician quickly located the baby and assured Hatcher that everything looked perfect, and that the baby was healthy.
Then Hatcher remembered to tell the tech that her anatomy was a little different.
Kelsey Hatcher and Caleb Hatcher.
Caleb Shaver
A mother in Alabama is pregnant with twins, one in each of her two uteruses, in an incredibly rare case. "So if you're doing a scan and happen to see something, don't dismiss it as random or abnormal. There is a completely separate uterus there," Hatcher explained.
Hatcher mentioned that the ultrasound technician expressed gratitude for informing her and proceeded to quickly inspect the second uterus to ensure everything appeared healthy.
"And as soon as the ultrasound wand moved to the other side of my belly, I exclaimed, Oh, my gosh! There's another one."
Hatcher could tell there was another baby without being told. "The nurse practitioner I met with that day was amazed. She said, 'I'm not even sure what the statistics of this are,'" Hatcher recalled.
Hatcher considers herself fortunate in a sense, as some women with uterine didelphys have one non-functioning uterus, making pregnancy impossible. However, her medical records indicate that she has successfully carried babies in both of her uteruses, just never simultaneously. The unique anatomy also resulted in a visual difference; she had not just one, but two baby bumps in certain positions.
The long, long odds
As she reclined in her armchair in the evening, she remarked, "It's as if the girls are dividing into two distinct entities, and you can clearly see the separation of the two wombs, there's a noticeable gap in my stomach where they shift to one side or the other."
Out of about 3.6 million babies born in the US last year, only around 114,000 were twins, as reported by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This means that for every 200 live births, approximately three sets of twins are born, with about two of these sets likely being fraternal twins, originating from separate fertilized eggs.
Hatchers condition is rare, too: About 1 in 2,000 women is born with uterine didelphys.
damircudic/E+/Getty Images
Scientists may have found the cause of morning sickness and see hope for treatment
Hatcher needed both of her uteruses to be fertilized with two eggs in order to become pregnant at the same time. Similar to most women, she has two ovaries, which store and release eggs. Each ovary connects to a single uterus. Normally, the ovaries take turns releasing eggs, sending one into each uterus each cycle for a chance at fertilization. However, in some cases, an ovary may release more than one egg during a cycle, known as hyperovulation.
Hyperovulation has not been extensively researched, but a 2006 study of 500 women revealed that approximately 1 in 5 of them were capable of hyperovulating. However, this occurrence is not consistent in every cycle. In some instances, a single ovary may release two eggs, and even more rarely, both ovaries may release a single egg simultaneously, as was the case for Hatcher. Compared to her chances of winning a Powerball jackpot, Hatcher was about seven times more likely, and about 131,000 times more likely to get struck by lightning in her lifetime.
