A superfetal pregnancy describes a woman who is pregnant for the second time during pregnancy. Carl Tapales/Getty Images
The crazy story of a British mother who gave birth to two babies on the same day, conceived a month apart, sheds light on the disturbing and extremely rare pregnancy phenomenon called superfetation. Expert clarifications.
This is a pregnancy story by Sophie Smalley. At the first ultrasound at 7 weeks pregnant, doctors discovered two embryos, and a significant difference in size between the two. It was during the birth in 2021 that they realized that the two children had the same gestational age, reports the British daily. Sun in the May 21 article. The two children were actually conceived 28 days apart. Sophie Small was already pregnant when she became pregnant for the second time. Consequently, her first child was born at 36 weeks, and her second, later through intercourse, was born at a younger 32 weeks.
This unusual phenomenon can be explained. This is the so-called superfetational pregnancy, which characterizes a woman who is pregnant for the second time during pregnancy. The latter is considered a twin because the children are born on the same day, even if they were conceived after two different sexual relations. How is that possible? In this case, ovulation continues, while it stops during a classic pregnancy. “In this way, the egg is expelled by the ovaries, while the other has already been fertilized during the previous menstrual cycle,” explains Olivier Pape, an obstetrician-gynecologist who authored a 2008 memoir about superfetation. The second is then fertilized in turn by another intercourse. , and thus the second embryo begins to develop. So the parents of the children may be different.
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A superfetus pregnancy can be diagnosed before delivery only if two conditions are present: First, different ultrasound examinations should be able to prove that the second child appeared later. Then the growth retardation should be permanent until birth.
Although superfoetus pregnancy is a common occurrence in some animals, it is unique to the human species. “To date, only a dozen cases have been scientifically studied in the world,” says obstetrician-gynecologist Odil Bagot.
Medically induced superfetations.
According to current knowledge, medically assisted labor (MAP) may be the cause of some cases of superfetation. “In these particular situations, the women continued to ovulate after becoming pregnant, thanks to the drugs that were prescribed to stimulate conception,” explains Dr. Odile Bagot.
This is the case of Rebecca Roberts, a British mother who continues to share her testimony on social media after the birth of her twins in 2020. After a pregnancy facilitated by her ovulation-stimulating medication, the young woman notes at her third ultrasound: the appearance of the second child. “My twins were conceived three weeks apart. The difference in their sizes was impressive, including in the first weeks after birth,” he says in a video published on YouTube. Her children will be 14 years olde Cases of superfetation studied by science, he writes.
Other cases have been observed after in vitro fertilization. “Some of the patients studied in these cases of superfetation conceived when they had already conceived naturally,” says gynecologist Odile Bagot.
Uterine defect.
There may also be a genetic predisposition. “The interruption of ovulation in pregnant women is caused by the production of the hormone hCG by the placenta,” explains Dr. Olivier Pape. And the genetic structure of some women can be the reason for the lower secretion of this hormone.
In two cases studied, the cause of superfetal pregnancy was uterine malformations. The uterus was then positioned and oriented to facilitate the second insemination. “These cases were observed in patients with so-called “bicorne” or “didelphic” uterus, that is, with an unusual shape and smaller than average size,” says gynecologist Olivier Pape.
Having said that, gynecologist Odile Bagot wants to reassure. “These pregnancies are so rare that they shouldn’t be a cause for concern. Therefore, it is useless to protect yourself after becoming pregnant, to try to avoid a possible multiple pregnancy.
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Source: Le Figaro
