Rare “Super Twins” Born On Same Day But Conceived Weeks Apart
A woman in the U.K. is the proud mother of twins that were conceived weeks apart. Rebecca Roberts and her partner, Rhys Weaver, tried for years to get pregnant and…
SYDNEY, NSW – JUNE 07: A pregnant woman holds her stomach June 7, 2006 in Sydney, Australia. Australia is currently enjoying a baby boom, with the Australian Bureau of Statistics registering a 2.4% increase in births from 2004 to 2005, which represents the highest number of births since 1992. The Australian Federal Government has been encouraging people to have more babies, with financial incentives and the slogan by treasurer Peter Costello to “have one for mum, one for dad, and one for the country”. The Federal Government has identified falling fertility rates and the ageing population as long-term problems for Australia’s growth and prosperity. (Photo by Ian Waldie/Getty Images)
A woman in the U.K. is the proud mother of twins that were conceived weeks apart. Rebecca Roberts and her partner, Rhys Weaver, tried for years to get pregnant and they were thrilled when they found out she was expecting. But at her third ultrasound at 12 weeks along, she says that thrill turned to shock when doctors discovered a second baby.
They didn’t just miss the second twin in previous ultrasounds, the couple was told there was a three-week size difference between the babies and even doctors didn’t understand what was going on at first. So what was happening? Something very rare called “superfetation,” where a second, new pregnancy happens during an initial pregnancy. So Roberts got pregnant again after being pregnant.
The couple was warned that their younger twin, a daughter they named Rosalie, might not survive. But she did and at 33 weeks, this mom’s labor was induced because her baby girl had stopped growing due to a problem with her umbilical cord. Both babies were born last September, Noah weighing four-pounds, 10-ounces and Rosalie, weighing just two-pounds, seven-ounces. They both stayed in the NICU afterwards, but now the twins are healthy and Rosalie is catching up to her brother in size.
"They're my super twins," Roberts says. "Every day I look at them and think, ‘Wow, I’m so lucky.’"
