Can a Pregnant Woman Become Pregnant Again before Giving Birth?
In 2009, Julia Grovenburg of Fort Smith, Arkansas, got pregnant twice -- two weeks apart -- and ended up delivering two healthy babies by Caesarean section in December of that year. But the babies were not twins. The phenomenon is called superfetation, a rare type of pregnancy in which an embryo is formed from a separate estrous cycle after another embryo, or fetus, is already present in the uterus.
These pregnancies occur when a woman continues to ovulate after becoming pregnant, and a second fertilized egg is able to implant itself in the lining of the uterus. Typically, hormonal changes prevent continued ovulation and a thickening uterus usually prevents a second embryo from attaching.
A rare way to get pregnant:
Superfetation is extremely rare in humans and can only be confirmed after delivery, by chromosomal and metabolic studies.
There have been only 10 recorded cases of superfetation. The second baby is often born prematurely, which can increase its odds of experiencing lung development issues.
When two separate instances of fertilization occur during the same menstrual cycle, the resulting pregnancy is known as superfecundation.
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