A 32-year-old Alabama woman with the rare condition of having two uteruses has given birth to twin girls on separate days. Kelsey Hatcher, who shared her unique story on Instagram @doubleuhatchlings, announced the birth of her daughters on Friday, December 22.
Roxi Layla, the first twin, was born on Tuesday, December 19, and her sister, Rebel Laken, followed the next day. Both babies weighed over seven pounds and were delivered at 39 weeks, earlier than their estimated Christmas due date.
Kelsey Hatcher, a massage therapist and mother of three, has been living with “uterus didelphys,” a condition affecting about 0.3% of females, since she was 17. It was during an ultrasound at eight weeks that she discovered she was carrying twins, with each baby developing in a separate uterus.
Dr. Shweta Patel, an obstetrician-gynecologist at the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s Women & Infants Center, described the occurrence as exceedingly rare. Dr. Patel, who had treated Hatcher in a previous pregnancy, was astonished to find two babies in two uteruses this time.
Richard Davis, a professor at the hospital, explained that the twins having separate wombs allowed for more space to grow, reducing the risk of pre-term birth. He highlighted the uniqueness of Hatcher’s dicavitary twin pregnancy.
The odds of a double pregnancy in double wombs are estimated at one in 50 million. The last known case was in Bangladesh in 2019.
Hatcher and her newborn daughters were discharged from the hospital in good health, and she plans to share more details about her extraordinary delivery in the future.