Woman born with two uteri expecting a child in both, a one in 50 million chance

By Fatou Ferraro Mboup

Updated Nov 29, 2023 at 03:32 PM

Reading time: 1 minute

51806

Kelsey Hatcher, a 32-year-old mother of three, and her husband Caleb received a surprising revelation earlier this year when they discovered that Kelsey was pregnant. The shock escalated when, during Kelsey’s eight-week ultrasound, they learned that she was expecting twins, and, uniquely, each baby was situated in its own uterus. This rare condition, known as uterine didelphys, results from being born with two uteri and two cervixes.

Uterine didelphys is already a rare condition, and the odds of having pregnancies in each uterus simultaneously are approximately “one in a million,” according to Doctor Richard Davis, a specialist at the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s Women & Infants Center, where Kelsey is currently receiving care. Despite Kelsey learning about her double uterus at the age of 17, her three previous pregnancies each involved a single baby in one uterus, all reaching full term without complications.

During the eight-week ultrasound for her current pregnancy, Kelsey, anticipating the possibility of twins, asked the nurse to confirm only one baby. However, to everyone’s surprise, including Kelsey’s, a second baby was discovered on the scan. Both babies are considered fraternal twins, conceived separately through individual eggs and fertilisation.

Sharing her extraordinary pregnancy journey on Instagram, Hatcher has been regularly updating her followers with glimpses into her unique experience. Posting images from a recent biophysical profile (BPP) scan, also known as prenatal ultrasound, featuring close-ups of the babies’ faces, she expressed her joy over the successful ultrasound, stating: “The girls passed their BPP ultrasound this week! Everything looked great, and the tech said ‘They are all stars!’”

Kelsey’s husband, Caleb, expressed his astonishment at the news, stating: “I don’t know what happened differently this time, but it’s wild.” Doctor Shweta Patel, the OBGYN overseeing Kelsey’s care, explained that in this unique case, it is likely that Kelsey ovulated separately, with one egg travelling down each fallopian tube and being fertilised by sperm in each uterus.

“They could be born minutes apart, or they can be born days apart,” Patel told ABC News. “It’s so unpredictable, and that’s why we’ve had a lot of conversations with Kelsey kind of talking about the different scenarios that could happen, where she could have a vaginal delivery with both babies, she could have a vaginal delivery with one and a C-section with the other, or maybe end up having a C-section for both of them as well.”

Doctor Patel emphasised that while there is no established expertise in managing pregnancies in two uteri, they are relying on foundational knowledge of pregnancy physiology and adapting it to Kelsey’s unique scenario.

Keep On Reading

By Fatou Ferraro Mboup

Hundreds protest Italian right-wing prosecutor’s cancellation of birth certificates for lesbian couples

By Alma Fabiani

I was bored indoors, so I virtually visited an alternative female-centred childbirth suite

By Alma Fabiani

Mum slammed by followers for removing her baby’s birthmark with laser treatment

By Charlie Sawyer

Why has the new sculpture of a Black American woman in Times Square prompted mass outrage?

By Charlie Sawyer

Brooklyn Beckham and Nicola Peltz Beckham hire a lawyer to battle misinformation amid growing family rift

By Eliza Frost

How to spot a performative male out in the wild 

By Abby Amoakuh

New video game that allows men to r*pe female family members triggers backlash amid incel concerns

By Eliza Frost

The Summer I Turned Pretty’s Chris Briney is at the centre of a new love triangle, but this time for an audio erotica story 

By Charlie Sawyer

22-year-old groom arrested after police find 9-year-old bride at staged Disneyland wedding

By Charlie Sawyer

Father of former Harry Potter star gives serious warning to the new child stars in HBO Max reboot

By Eliza Frost

Jessie Cave was banned from a Harry Potter fan convention because of her OnlyFans account

By Fatou Ferraro Mboup

James Toback hit with landmark $1.68 billion jury award after 40 women accused director of sexual abuse

By Charlie Sawyer

Pope picking 101: What actually happens during Conclave

By Eliza Frost

The Summer I Turned Pretty stars Lola Tung and Gavin Casalegno caught in political drama

By Charlie Sawyer

The #MeToo movement is at risk. How the Harvey Weinstein retrial risks doing unimaginable damage 

By Charlie Sawyer

UK government’s new murder prediction tool draws comparison to Tom Cruise film, Minority Report

By Eliza Frost

Black cat boyfriends are in to replace golden retriever boyfriends, but are they just emotionally unavailable men in disguise?

By Charlie Sawyer

Trump grants white South Africans refuge after ending legal protections for Afghans facing deportation

By Fatou Ferraro Mboup

MrBeast hunts for volunteers to test the viral question: who would win between 100 men and one gorilla?

By Abby Amoakuh

Only at Coachella can you be caught saying the N-word and still perform without question