A woman from Texas has given birth to an unusual set of twins conceived exactly one week apart. How is it that this is even possible?

October was the month in which the twins were born.

According to published sources, a woman in Texas experienced a phenomenon known as "superfetation," in which she conceived a second set of children while already carrying her first set. She went on to give birth to twins who have conceived approximately one week apart.

The woman, Cara Winhold, 30 years old, found out she was pregnant for the first time in March 2021. When she went in for an ultrasound five weeks later, the results showed that there appeared to be only one embryo developing in her uterus, as reported by the Daily Mail. However, because Winhold had a history of miscarriages, her doctor encouraged her to come in for another scan just two weeks later to verify that the pregnancy was still going well. This was done to ensure that Winhold would not suffer another loss during this pregnancy. During that subsequent checkup, the scan revealed not just one but two embryos that had successfully implanted.

Winhold revealed this information to the Daily Mail by saying, "On the very first scan, there was a sac with one baby, and then when I went back, there was a really tiny little sac in the corner that had another baby in it." "Baby A appeared to be more developed than the other infant, which looked like a little dot in comparison," you said.

"Superfetation" is the name given to the extremely unusual occurrence in which a woman experiences a second pregnancy while already carrying another child.

According to Healthline, most cases of superfetation that have been documented have occurred in women undergoing reproductive treatments such as in vitro fertilization (IVF). The medical literature only describes a small number of occurrences of superfetation. A patient can experience superfetation after this procedure, which involves transferring fertilized embryos into the uterus. If the patient then ovulates and the fertilized egg that results from this ovulation is fertilized in the weeks that follow the transfer, then the patient will experience superfetation.

According to statements by Winhold to the Daily Mail, she did not participate in any fertility procedures during her lifetime. According to a previous study by Live Science, for such situations to occur, three improbable factors must occur simultaneously. This contributes to the fact that such cases are extremely uncommon.

To start, one of the ovaries must release another egg, also known as an ovum. However, this rarely happens when a woman is pregnant because her body secretes hormones that stop ovulation as soon as she becomes pregnant. Second, the egg has to be fertilized by a sperm cell, which is highly unlikely because mucus begins to build up in the cervical canal in the early stages of pregnancy, forming a "plug" that prevents sperm from traveling through the canal. And last but not least, the fertilized egg must lodge itself in the uterine wall. There may not be much room for a second embryo if there is already one implanted and developing. In most cases, certain hormones are secreted during implantation to assist the process of becoming pregnant. However, this hormone secretion would not occur if the pregnancy was already in progress.

In the unlikely case that all of these circumstances come together, a woman will have two pregnancies simultaneously. However, the fetuses that arise from these pregnancies will have two distinct gestational ages, which indicates that they will be in different stages of development. (According to the article published by Live Science, this distinguishes identical twins from fraternal twins, who develop from two fertilized eggs but are the same gestational age.) According to Winhold's physician, "most likely I ovulated twice, released two eggs, and they got fertilized at different times, around a week apart," she told the Daily Mail. Winhold's statement was based on the information provided by her doctor.

According to the Daily Mail, Winhold gave birth to her extremely unusual set of twins in October 2021. Colson, the child, conceived first, was born significantly bigger than his twin, Cayden, and continued to be heavier than Cayden at their six-month checkup. Cayden was born first.

 

 

 

 

Article source :  https://www.livescience.com/rare-case-superfetation-texas

Image source : https://pixabay.com/id/vectors/peta-negara-amerika-menyatakan-812736/

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