Rare Occurrence: Alabama Woman’s Dual-Womb Twins!

(Daily360.com) – An Alabama woman is currently carrying a one in 50 million pregnancy. Kelsey Hatcher is carrying a set of twins in the most unusual way imaginable: in two separate uteruses. When Kelsey was 17 years old she was told she had two uteruses in her body, a condition known as Hatcher’s condition which affects only 0.3% of the global population according to the Cleveland Clinic.

Kelsey Hatcher is a 32-year-old mother of three and thought she was set to add baby number four. She said she felt like something was different from her prior pregnancies and thought she may be having some minor complications. She made an appointment for her eight-week ultrasound with her obstetrician (OB) to check everything out.

At the appointment, the tech scanned her belly and told her that everything looked just fine. At that point Kelsey mentioned to the tech she has a second uterus and that may be worth checking. The tech scanned further an exclaimed “oh my goodness” when she discovered there was indeed another viable pregnancy in Kelsey’s second uterus.

Both Kelsey and her doctors were shocked by the finding. She said her first reaction was to laugh out loud; she then called her husband Caleb to tell him the news. She said when he heard he also laughed in shock and surprise. Hatcher’s OBGYN, Shweta Patel, an assistant professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s Department of OBGYN, said this pregnancy was “very surprising.”

Doctors told Kelsey her babies are the result of two separate eggs and two separate sperm making them fraternal twins, but even more like siblings. This pregnancy is so rare it doesn’t even have an official name; Kelsey’s doctors are calling it a ‘twin pregnancy.’

Kelsey and her doctors agree there’s no reason to treat the pregnancy any differently than her others except for a few extra checkups. She hopes to deliver naturally like she did for her other children at the end of the term. Should that not happen for some reason; if neither baby or perhaps just one dilates naturally her doctors will induce labor and deliver them on December 22nd.