A woman has revealed that she waspregnantwith two babies, but they were not twins. While one fetus was six weeks old, the other was eight weeks old. This extremely rare occurrence is believed to be a case ofsuperfetation.
Taylor Henderson recounted the unexpected news she received after having herultrasoundwhen she was eight weeks pregnant.
HighlightsA woman said she experienced a case of superfetation, getting pregnant while already pregnant with babies at different gestational ages.Superfetation is extremely rare, with the Cleveland Clinic stating chances are nearly zero.Unlike twins, superfetation pregnancies involve embryos formed at different times.
“I was worried because I had no symptoms at all. I did feel a little bit of nausea with my daughter, and so far with this pregnancy, I literally had nothing other than exhaustion,” Taylor, who has a six-month-old daughter, explained.
A woman revealed that she carried two fetuses simultaneously, but they were not twins: one was eight weeks old, and the other was six weeks old
Image credits:Freepick
Taylor Henderson recounted the unexpected news she received after having her ultrasound when she was eight weeks pregnant
Image credits:taylorlaurenhenderson
Wanting to see the phenomenon with her own eyes, theprofessionalordered another ultrasound.
“The doctor explained that, from what she could tell, I’m having a superfetation pregnancy.”
“So I’m currently eight weekspregnantand six weeks pregnant.”
“[The doctor] explained that she had never in her career seen this in person. She had only read about this happening.”
Superfetation is a rare phenomenon where a second, new pregnancy occurs during an initial pregnancy. It’s so improbable that the chances of experiencing this type of pregnancy are near zero, according to theCleveland Clinic.
Liketwins, two fetuses share the same womb and develop alongside each other. Usually, they’re also delivered at the same time.
However, unlike twins, embryos don’t form during the same menstrual cycle, meaning they will develop at different gestational ages.
Taylor’s doctor told her she had a “superfetation” pregnancy, a rare phenomenon in which two fetuses develop at different gestational ages
This event is rare in humans and observed in animals much more frequently. Of the few cases of potential superfetation reported in the medical literature, most have been in women undergoing fertility treatments like in vitro fertilization, as perHealthline.
As Taylor explained, herdoctorreferred to the fetuses as Twin A and Twin B, even if they weren’t technically twins because they had been conceived at different times.
Referring to the possibility of the smallest fetus being a twin that was at a different gestational age, Taylor asserted that her doctor was certain of her diagnosis.
“I’m sure my doctor would know. It was clear at my eight-week ultrasound that there was also a six-week pregnancy [where] everything looked fine, so there was no reason to believe that it wasn’t developing as quickly.”
Additionally, Taylor said that she doesn’t have two uteruses.
Image credits:Lisa Fotios
Superfetation is so uncommon that the chances of experiencing this type of pregnancy are near zero
Image credits:John Looy
According to theCleveland Clinic, many claimed instances of superfetation turn out to be a misdiagnosis of other conditions affecting twins with differing growth rates.
It’s unclear whether Taylor Henderson’s case was medically documented.
Bored Pandahas reached out to her for comment.
“I’ve been a labor nurse for 30+ years and never seen this,” a social media user wrote
Aivaras Kaziukonis
Evelina Šiukšterytė
Curiosities
