A mother from Georgia has given birth to two babies in the space of 11 months. Caroline Wortman and her husband Nate Daniel Wortman bookended 2021 with the arrival of their first child, a girl, in January and the birth of their son in December of the same year.
Caroline gave birth two times in 2021 due to her double uterus, or what is medically known as uterine didelphys, which meant that she had two reproductive systems. She was, in fact, ten weeks pregnant with baby number two when she gave birth to her first child.
Speaking with The Sun, Caroline said that Josie, her daughter, occupied her right uterus while her son, Brooks, was on the left side. Though her rare condition could lead to pregnancy complications, the mom said that both her pregnancies were normal and healthy.
However, Josie and Brooks had premature births as one of the common complications of uterine didelphys. Josie came to the world on Jan. 2, 2021, while Brooks' birthday was on Dec. 26, 2021.
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Double Uterus Diagnosis at 18
Caroline said she learned she had a double uterus at 18 years old. However, her doctor told her that she could likely not have kids of her own as uterine didelphys may also cause infertility.
Data from a 2011 study in the Human Reproduction Update journal showed that the prevalence of uterine didelphys is just 0.3 percent of pregnancies. According to the experts, a double uterus is an inborn condition that develops in female babies. The phenomenon could be attributed to genetics in the same way that some babies develop just one kidney or sex organ.
Most girls won't know that they have a double uterus until they reach puberty and menstruate. They will usually experience heavy bleeding or pain during their period. As adults, women with uterine didelphys may also experience pain during sex or several miscarriages.
Caroline said that she has lived with the thought of being infertile for ten years since learning of her diagnosis. However, she never gave up on her dreams of becoming a mother and had two rare births in the process.
Mom With Double Uterus Develops Anemia
Meanwhile, in Maryland, mom La-Anna Douglas learned she has uterine didelphys after visiting an infertility doctor. Her monthly periods almost always included the most excruciating abdominal cramps and pelvic pain.
She also became anemic and developed brain fog due to her condition. Douglas said that when she got older and started working, her periods made her pass out as well.
Initially, her doctor could not figure out why she suffered so much whenever she had her period until an infertility specialist officially diagnosed her condition, along with double cervix, fibroids, and endometriosis.
Following a series of surgeries, infertility treatments, and failed in vitro fertilization, Douglas finally got pregnant and gave birth to a daughter in 2012. Despite her infertility struggles due to her double uterus, she and her husband will welcome their second baby, another daughter, in mid-2022 as Douglas fell pregnant again.
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