Tunmise was left confused after her visit to the hospital where she went for an ultrasound, as the doctor informed her she had another baby growing inside her.
Another baby? But her first scan showed just one baby. So she thought she was having twins… She thought.
What Tunmise did not know was that her pregnancy was a rare case called Superfetation and that her babies were two weeks apart. So they are twins, but they are not twins.
Even though Tunmise and her husband only had intercourse one time, his sperm stayed alive for 10 days to fertilize the second egg released. Ordinarily, the release of eggs ceases once a woman is pregnant, and the hormonal and physical changes of pregnancy work together to prevent another conception.
If a second pregnancy does later occur, it often results in a risky premature birth.
Superfetation occurs in some animal species like rabbits and rodents, but it is “exceedingly rare” in humans. Superfetation is so rare that there are only a handful of documented cases. Most doctors believe alleged reports of superfetation are primarily due to markedly unequal growth and development of twin fetuses of the same gestational age.
But superfetation is “theoretically possible,” at least until the uterus “closes” after the egg and the sperm unite, which is usually by day 10 of pregnancy.
This condition is poorly understood and somewhat mystical for the medical community.
There are a few reasons why superfetation is so unlikely. First of all, after getting pregnant, a woman’s body is supposed to stop further ovulation. That means there shouldn’t be a second egg (unless both were released simultaneously, as with fraternal twins). And even if you aren’t pregnant, ovulation should only happen every 28 days.
Lastly, a mucus plug usually forms during pregnancy to prevent sperm from entering the cervix, and the uterine lining usually undergoes changes that make it unfavourable for a new embryo to be implanted.
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