1 Womb, 2 Fetuses, 2 Weeks Apart: Here's How

'Superfetation' is really, really rare, docs are clueless, but babies should be fine

By Harry Kimball, Newser Staff

Posted Sep 28, 2009 11:55 AM CDT

(Newser) – Forget that 19-pound Indonesian baby. The real miracle pregnancy is Arkansas born and bred: Julia Grovenburg, who this month managed to get pregnant not once, but twice. That’s right: two conceptions, one two weeks after the other, to be enjoyed—cherished, endured, served—concomitantly. There are only 10 recorded cases of the phenomenon, called superfetation. Time takes a look at how it works.

Superfetation occurs when a woman continues to ovulate after conception and a fertilized egg manages to attach itself to the already pregnant womb’s lining. This is, of course, very rare, as the hormones spawned by the primary pregnancy generally stop ovulation, and the pregnant womb’s lining is generally too thick for a new egg to attach. Nobody has any idea how it happens, but things should turn out well for Grovenburg—with the extra pregnancy so close on the heels of the first, she will likely just have one slightly premature baby.

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A pregnant woman. (Shutterstock)

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The last known case of superfetation had a happy ending. In 2007, a British woman gave birth to a boy and a girl conceived three weeks apart, with no undue complications. - Dan Fletcher, Time

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1 Womb, 2 Fetuses, 2 Weeks Apart: Here's How