Woman Becomes Pregnant Twice in Three Weeks – It’s Only the 14th Documented Case in History

May 19, 2021 by apost team

Every time a baby is born healthy it is considered the miracle of life. On September 17, 2020, two truly miraculous babies were brought into this world. Their names are Noah and Rosalie, and their mother Rebecca Roberts conceived them three weeks apart. This is known as a superfetation pregnancy and the condition is extremely rare. According to Roberts, there are only 14 known cases documented throughout the world. 

Baby Rosalie was conceived three weeks after her brother Noah, but they were both delivered via cesarean section when Roberts was 33 weeks into her pregnancy. They were noticeably different in size with Noah weighing 4 pounds and 10 ounces, and Rosalie weighing 2 pounds and 7 ounces. After their delivery, the twins were taken to the neonatal intensive care unit where Noah spent a little over three weeks and Rosalie stayed for 95 days. 

It was good that Rosalie was delivered early because the doctors discovered after the birth that her umbilical cord had stopped working properly. This is why she hadn’t grown much in the last month of the pregnancy and why she was so much smaller than her brother. Her smaller size is also attributed to her being three weeks behind her brother in development.

Roberts was 39 years old when she got pregnant and had been taking fertility drugs to increase her chances. Her doctor believes because of the fertility treatment her body did not immediately stop ovulating after the initial pregnancy, so she was able to conceive again after three weeks. 

According to The Washington Post, at first, the doctors only saw evidence of one baby and so the pregnancy was labeled as a singleton. “I remember walking away from the very first scan so happy,” said Roberts about the experience of seeing her baby during the first ultrasound. 

When Roberts went in for her 12-week ultrasound appointment five weeks later the technician fell silent after beginning the exam. Roberts told The Washington Post, “I thought something awful had happened. The sonographer looked at me and was like, ‘do you know you’re expecting twins?’” After the initial shock, Roberts and her partner Rhys Weaver were thrilled.

At first, Roberts’ obstetrician Dr. David Walker was hesitant to diagnose the rare condition.“We were concerned because the second twin was much smaller. It was only by regularly scanning and seeing that the rate of growth was consistently three weeks behind that we realized it was superfetation,” said Walker. 

Walker explained in more detail how this rare condition came to pass, “Instead of stopping ovulation, she released another egg about three or four weeks after the first one, and the egg somehow miraculously managed to fertilize and implant in her uterus. She didn’t release two eggs at the same time, which is what the medication normally does, but we have no way of proving it one way or another.” 

After 25 years in his profession, this was the first time Walker had ever witnessed a superfetation pregnancy.  Fortunately, the babies were healthy and in no danger due to the rare condition. “The rate of growth for both of the babies was good, which was reassuring,” Walker said in the same interview with The Washington Post.

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However, the babies were still born prematurely. “Anything that can go wrong with a pregnancy is more common with twin pregnancies. But with a three-week difference, you don’t want to compromise the smaller twin by delivering too early. You have to keep a really close eye,” Walker explained. “The delivery was crucial in this case.” This seems especially true after learning about Rosalie’s umbilical cord issue during the final month of pregnancy.

The mother and father got the chance to see the babies momentarily before they were taken to the NICU. “We got to see both of them as soon as they were born. It was absolutely beautiful,” Roberts shared.

After the lengthy stay at the hospital, both babies were eventually allowed to go home. “We could finally get on and start our lives. It felt like we were on hold having them in the hospital,” Roberts explained. 

Despite being twins, the two babies are easy to tell apart. “Even though they were born on the same day, there’s definitely an age difference between them, it’s noticeable,” Roberts said. 

Fortunately, the size difference hasn’t stopped them from becoming fast friends. Roberts explained, “When we lay them down next to each other on their play mat, they look at each other, reach out and touch each other, and talk to each other as well, it is so beautiful to watch.”

Roberts has since made an Instagram account where she shares progress on the babies’ development. She told The Washington Post, “We want people to be able to continue to watch as they grow up. Miracles can happen, and my children are proof of that.”

Have you ever heard of a superfetation pregnancy before? What do you think about these special twins? Let us know your thoughts and be sure to send this on to your loved ones.