A Dora, Alabama, woman with a double uterus gave birth to two girls on two separate days at the University of Alabama at Birmingham Hospital this week.
Having a double uterus, a genetic condition properly called uterus didelphys occurs in 0.3% of women. Kelsey Hatcher, 32, had given birth thrice, each time carrying one baby in one of the uteri, hospital officials said in a release Friday.
Her fourth pregnancy saw her carry two babies, one in each of the uteri, a condition known as dicavitary pregnancy. There’s only a one-in-a-million shot of that occurring for women with her condition, hospital officials said.
“I had already taken care of Kelsey through her third pregnancy and knew she had a double uterus, but that was only one baby. Two babies in two uteri were a true medical surprise,” Dr. Shweta Patel of the UAB Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology said in the release.
The two girls were delivered over the course of 20 hours, giving each child a separate birthday.
“Our miracle babies were born! They decided they were rare enough statistically that they should just go ahead and have their own birthdays too. Roxi Layla was born Tuesday night at 7:49 p.m. and was joined by her sister, Rebel Laken, Wednesday morning at 6:09 a.m.,” Ms. Hatcher wrote on Instagram.
Whereas Roxi was delivered naturally, Rebel came via cesarean section.
“She had a vaginal delivery with her first baby that came from the right uterus and had a C-section for the baby that came from the left uterus,” Dr. Patel told Birmingham NBC affiliate WVTM-TV.
The newborn sisters are not identical twins, each developing from a different egg.
“I think it is safe to call the girls fraternal twins. At the end of the day, it was two babies in one belly at the same time. They just had different apartments,” the UAB Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine’s Dr. Richard Davis, who co-managed Ms. Hatcher’s pregnancy care, said in the release.
• Brad Matthews can be reached at bmatthews@washingtontimes.com.
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