In a rare turn of events, a mum gives birth to twins after getting pregnant while pregnant. Despite the unusual condition, the 30-year-old woman successfully goes into labour.
Believe it or not, a pregnant mum can get pregnant while already pregnant. The condition is known to be superfetation. It occurs when a new pregnancy occurs during an initial pregnancy. The gap between the two pregnancies usually unfolds between days or a few weeks.
Experts consider superfetation as an extremely rare type of pregnancy. Moreover, only a few cases of the phenomenon got documented in most medical records.
In this article, you’ll read:
- The Mum Was Shocked to Learn She Was Pregnant While Pregnant
- The Couple’s Devastating Journey Before the Pregnancy
- Few Things You Should Know About Superfetation
The Mum Was Shocked to Learn She Was Pregnant While Pregnant
A 30-year-old woman in the US gave birth to twins after experiencing a miraculous pregnancy. Texas mum Cara Winhold’s pregnancy story went viral because of its rareness.
Before she finally experienced her miracle pregnancy, Mrs Winhold suffered from immense heartbreak. Her previous pregnancies all resulted in miscarriages. She suffered from this tragedy three times before her miraculous and rare twin pregnancy.
The Mum Was Shocked to See Her Second Baby
The pregnancy condition that the woman experienced is known to be superfetation. It happens when a new pregnancy occurs during an initial pregnancy. Additionally, this kind of condition could happen days or weeks after the first one.
“What happened? He wasn’t there the first time,” said Ms Cara Winhold to her doctor. “What’s going on?”
The doctor told her that the condition happened most likely because she has ovulated twice. She released two eggs and they god fertilised at different times, about a week apart.
“I 100% believe it was a miracle just because of everything that happened in my pregnancy journey,” said Ms Cara Winhold.
The Couple’s Devastating Journey Before the Pregnancy
Image Source: iStock
Before their viral pregnancy story, Mrs Winhold and her husband experienced a devastating journey. According to a news outlet, the couple had their first child, which is a boy, in 2018. She got immediately got pregnant shortly after they decided to expand their family.
Unfortunately, Ms Cara Winhold suffered from three miscarriages. They lost a baby girl in 2019 and another in 2020. Furthermore, her last miscarriage nearly killed her.
After losing three babies, the couple lost started to lose hope. According to Mrs Cara Winhold, getting pregnant again scared her. Despite this, she wanted more kids.
“I knew I wanted more kids,” she said. “I’m very optimistic, and I was like, ‘It’s going to happen.”
As an optimistic person, Ms Cara Winhold remained determined. She also found more strength after deciding to go to therapy.
According to her, “I didn’t want to give up but going to therapy made me learn how to heal and understand that it wasn’t my fault. It took a lot of time.”
Finally, the couple learned of their new pregnancy in January last year. A month later, the doctor told the couple about the two bundles of joy. Their twins, which are both baby boys, were born six minutes apart.
Few Things You Should Know About Superfetation
Image Source: iStock
Experts define superfetation as a condition where a new pregnancy occurs during an initial pregnancy.
In superfetation, another ovum (egg) gets fertilised by sperm and implanted in the womb. It happens days or weeks later than the first one. This means a mum gets pregnant while pregnant.
Additionally, babies born from superfetation usually turn out as twins. However, differently timed births may also occur.
How Superfetation Occurs
For superfetation to happen, another completely different ovum needs to be fertilised. It then implants separately in the womb.
Three very unlikely events need to take place for the superfetation to happen. It includes the following:
- Ovulation (release of on ovum by an ovary) during an ongoing pregnancy
Ovulation during an ongoing pregnancy is very unlikely. It is because the hormones released during pregnancy prevent further ovulation.
- Fertilisation of the second ovum
Like the first one, this is also unlikely to happen. It is because once a woman is pregnant, their cervix forms a mucus plug that blocks the passage of sperm. The mucus plug is the result of elevations of hormones produced in pregnancy.
- Implantation of a pregnant womb
This would be difficult because implantation required the release of certain hormones. These hormones would not be released if a woman were already pregnant. Aside from that, there is also the issue of having enough space for another embryo.
NDTV, Healthline
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