Current:Home > FinanceAlabama woman pregnant with 2 babies in 2 uteruses gives birth ahead of Christmas -Wealth Empowerment Zone
Alabama woman pregnant with 2 babies in 2 uteruses gives birth ahead of Christmas
View
Date:2025-04-13 13:53:05
In what some may call a Christmas miracle, an Alabama woman born with two uteruses has given birth to twin girls on different days.
Kelsey Hatcher learned of her condition, known as uterus didelphys when she was 17 years old, but it would be another 15 years before it resulted in her one-in-a-million pregnancy. Uterus didelphys is so rare it occurs in less than 1% of all women.
The 32-year-old and her husband, Caleb Hatcher, live in Dora, Alabama, outside of Birmingham. The couple welcomed twin girls 10 hours apart at The University of Alabama at Birmingham Hospital, according to a press release.
Double the labor
For Hatcher this rarity "meant double the uterus, double the labor, double the babies and double the birthdays," the release said.
'One in a million':Alabama woman pregnant with 2 babies in 2 uteruses due on Christmas
"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 12/19 at 7:49pm and was joined by her sister, Rebel Laken, Wednesday morning 12/20 at 6:09am," Hatcher announced in an Instagram post.
In all, Hatcher spent 20 hours in labor.
Embedded content: https://www.instagram.com/p/C1LfWa4tPwO/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
Hatcher is already a mother to three, and she was not expecting to have additional children until she learned she was pregnant in May.
"There’s only one baby in there, right?" Hatcher joked with her doctor at her first ultrasound at eight weeks.
"As soon as she moved the ultrasound wand across my belly, I said, 'Oh my gosh, there’s another one. Oh my gosh.' She said, 'Yes! There is,'" Hatcher told "TODAY." "I was just in complete shock and think for the first, I don’t know, two to three weeks, my husband and I just laughed."
A one-in-a-million pregnancy
The pregnancy is "one in a million," Dr. Richard Davis, a physician at the hospital where Hatcher delivered her children, told WVTM-TV in Alabama.
Hatcher's pregnancy is so uncommon, that "some OB-GYNs go their whole careers without seeing anything like this," Dr. Shweta Patel, Hatcher's OB-GYN, previously told the outlet, calling her circumstances "very, very rare."
Hatcher's pregnancy is a first for the team at the hospital. They're relying on "baseline teaching and baseline knowledge," Patel told "Good Morning America."
While twin pregnancies aren't rare, Hatcher's pregnancy and birth are uncommon because she ovulated separately, with each egg traveling down each side of the uterus and the sperm traveling up each uterus, and fertilization occurring in both.
"Because my cycles have always worked together as one, I assumed as I ovulated on one side ... and there would be no chance of having a baby in the opposite uterus," Hatcher previously told USA TODAY. "I never would have thought I would ovulate from both at the same time."
veryGood! (9)
Related
- See you latte: Starbucks plans to cut 30% of its menu
- Not a toddler, not a parent, but still love ‘Bluey’? You’re not alone
- NBA schedule today: How to watch, predictions for play-in tournament games on April 19
- How do I apply for Social Security for the first time?
- South Korea's acting president moves to reassure allies, calm markets after Yoon impeachment
- Probe underway into highway school bus fire that sent 10 students fleeing in New Jersey
- EPA designates 2 forever chemicals as hazardous substances, eligible for Superfund cleanup
- Police called in to North Dakota state forensic examiner’s office before her firing
- Highlights from Trump’s interview with Time magazine
- NFL draft: History of quarterbacks selected No. 1 overall, from Bryce Young to Angelo Bertelli
Ranking
- Newly elected West Virginia lawmaker arrested and accused of making terroristic threats
- Tesla recalling nearly 4,000 Cybertrucks because accelerator pedal can get stuck
- San Francisco restaurant owner goes on 30-day hunger strike over new bike lane
- BP defeated thousands of suits by sick Gulf spill cleanup workers. But not one by a boat captain
- McKinsey to pay $650 million after advising opioid maker on how to 'turbocharge' sales
- Remains of an Illinois soldier who died during WWII at a Japanese POW camp identified, military says
- New California law would require folic acid to be added to corn flour products. Here's why.
- Are green beans high risk? What to know about Consumer Reports' pesticide in produce study
Recommendation
Senate begins final push to expand Social Security benefits for millions of people
Tennessee teacher arrested after bringing guns to preschool, threatening co-worker, police say
Taylor Swift Proves Travis Kelce Is the MVP of Her Heart in These Tortured Poets Department Songs
Has Salman Rushdie changed after his stabbing? Well, he feels about 25, the author tells AP
A White House order claims to end 'censorship.' What does that mean?
Buffalo Bills owner Terry Pegula explores selling non-controlling, minority stake in franchise
Man dies in fire under Atlantic City pier near homeless encampment
Taylor Swift Surprises Fans With Double Album Drop of The Tortured Poets Department