In what medical professionals have called a “one in a million” occurrence, a Chinese woman with two uteruses successfully gave birth to twins after becoming pregnant in both wombs.
Officials from a hospital in northwestern China announced the stunning birth on the Chinese social media platform Weibo. They said the mother, identified only by her surname Li, gave birth to a boy and a girl at Xi’an People’s Hospital in Shaanxi province in September.
The twins, who were reportedly conceived naturally, were born via caesarean section.
Li herself was born with a rare congenital abnormality called uterus didelphys, meaning her uterus is split into two narrower cavities, each with its own fallopian tube and ovary. She also has two cervixes.
According to the Cleveland Clinic, the condition affects only 0.3 per cent of the population.
Xi’an People’s Hospital said it is already “extremely rare” for twins to be conceived in two uteruses — and even rarer for them to carried to term. The hospital shared an ultrasound photo of the twins, in which both fetuses can be seen gestating in separate, side-by-side wombs.
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Li reportedly gave birth when she was eight-and-a-half months pregnant.
The boy was born weighing seven pounds, 19 ounces. His twin sister was born smaller, at five pounds, five ounces. Li had earlier miscarried another pregnancy, the hospital wrote.
Though incredibly rare, Li is not the only woman with two uteruses to successfully give birth to twins.
In 2023, an American woman from Alabama who was also diagnosed with uterus didelphys gave birth to twin daughters from separate wombs. One of the babies was born vaginally, while the other was delivered via c-section.
Kelsey Hatcher, 32, gave birth to twin girls after becoming pregnant in both of her two uteruses. She is pictured holding baby Roxi on the left and baby Rebel on the right.
Andrea Mabry via the University of Alabama
Uterus didelphys is a condition caused by a fetus’ failure to join together two ducts to create one uterus during development. The condition can affect a woman’s pregnancy and increase the risk of miscarriage and preterm birth.
