An Alabama woman who was born with two uterus has revealed that she is pregnant with a girl in each one.
Kelsey Hatcher, who was also born with two cervixes, has a busy life. She and her husband Caleb both work and are already parents to three children - ages seven, four, and two.
They thought their little family was complete until Kelsey discovered that she was pregnant last spring after she went to her first ultrasound appointment.
The mom was stunned to learn that she was carrying two babies and immediately passed this information to her husband, telling him: "I said, 'Well, there’s two of them in there.' And [my husband] said, 'You’re lying.’ I said, ‘No, I’m not,'" per local outlet WVTM 13.
However, what left her doctors shocked wasn't the fact that she was having two babies, but that she had a double uterus - two functional ones, with a fetus in each of them.
According to the Mayo Clinic, a double uterus is a rare condition that is "present at birth" in some women and occurs when the two small tubes that grow and create together "don't join completely" and "each one develops into a separate organ".
Women with a double uterus often have triumphant pregnancies - but unfortunately, they are also more likely to experience a miscarriage or premature birth.
Her obstetrician, Dr. Shweta Patel, said that Kelsey's case is so uncommon that she never would have anticipated seeing this in a patient. "Very, very rare, yes. OBGYNs go their whole careers without seeing anything like this," Patel said.
UAB Dr. Richard Davis, who deals with high-risk pregnancies, also spoke with the publication and stated that "maybe three per 1,000 women might" have a double cervix or double uteruses.
"And then the probability of you having a twin in each horn is really crazy," Davis added.
Kelsey’s uteri could contract at different times, meaning she could give birth to each baby girl hours or even days apart.
"When she goes into labor, if she does, then we will have to monitor each uterus and see which one’s contracting and if they’re doing sort of almost the same or they’re different," Davis noted.
Furthermore, Patel explained that because the mom's circumstances are so rare medics don't have an official medical term for referring to the two babies. "I think medically, this is such a rare thing, that I think we don’t have a better way of describing it besides still calling them twins," she shared.
While the doting mom is enthusiastic about her brood being extended by two more, she and her husband are certain that the two infants will be their final pregnancy.
"The third one was our last one. [And] though we're grateful for the blessings for sure... this will definitely be the end," she quipped.
Kelsey revealed that her due date for her daughters is later this year on Christmas Day.
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