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2 Uteri, 2 Babies: Woman Has 1-in-5M Birth

Doctor explains how rare condition produced 1-in-5M birth

By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff

Posted Mar 3, 2009 11:35 AM CST
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(Newser) – What’s more impressive, having eight babies, or having two—one from each womb? Sarah Reinfelder, whom the New York Post has tastefully dubbed “Womber Woman,” did the latter, thanks to a condition called uterus didelphys, or double uterus. One in every 2,000 women has didelphys, it turns out, but most aren’t aware of it until they get pregnant, and sometimes not even then, ob-gyn Robert Zurawin tells Scientific American.

Most women with two wombs only get pregnant in one—Reinfelder’s case is one of only three recorded in the last 40 years—and if they don’t get an ultrasound early enough in the pregnancy, the womb with the child will block the other from view. Others, however, will know they have the condition from birth, because they’ll have a second cervix and vagina.

Shane and Sarah Reinfelder of Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., hold their twin girls Valerie Marie and Kaylin Joy, who were born from two separate uteri at Marquette General Hospital.
Shane and Sarah Reinfelder of Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., hold their twin girls Valerie Marie and Kaylin Joy, who were born from two separate uteri at Marquette General Hospital.   (AP Photo/The Mining Journal, Johanna Boyle)
Valerie Marie, born Thursday, to Sarah, right, and Shane Reinfelder of Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., lays in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Marquette General Hospital Friday, Feb. 27, 2009.
Valerie Marie, born Thursday, to Sarah, right, and Shane Reinfelder of Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., lays in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Marquette General Hospital Friday, Feb. 27, 2009.   (AP Photo/The Mining Journal, Julia Woehrer)
Valerie Marie, born Thursday, to Sarah and Shane Reinfelder of Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., lays in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Marquette General Hospital Friday, Feb. 27, 2009 in Marquette, Mich.
Valerie Marie, born Thursday, to Sarah and Shane Reinfelder of Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., lays in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Marquette General Hospital Friday, Feb. 27, 2009 in Marquette, Mich.   (AP Photo/The Mining Journal, Julia Woehrer)
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COMMENTS
Showing 2 of 2 comments
riffran
Mar 6, 2009 6:27 AM CST
its just the uterus and cervix, that is doubled, still a single vaginal opening, just to help out, a normal non pregnant uterus is roughly the size and shape of a small pear. Doesn't take up that much room at all, until filled with a growing baby.....hope that helps clear up the confusion
mak
Mar 3, 2009 5:27 AM CST
i'm sorry, so that's a second uterus, a second cervix and a second vagina? where does one store all these extra organs?

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