A Mississippi woman expecting identical triplets experienced the surprise of her life when, after giving birth to all three, discovered she was pregnant with a fourth.
According to Dr. James Bofill, the gynecologist from the University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC) who had been treating Kimberly Fugate, there was no sign of the fourth baby in any of the ultrasound images. The baby even went unnoticed during the delivery procedure; the doctor had to be informed by one of his colleagues about the fourth child.
"I was very embarrassed, obviously," said Bofill, reports The Clarion Ledger. "The news was sent to me by one of my fellows. I thought she was kidding."
Even more rare was that all four were identical.
"We've seen quadruplets here before, but we've never seen identical quadruplets," Bofill said. "That's what makes this case so unique and unusual."
Experts estimate the odds of this type of birth to be 1 in 70 million.
The physicians say it's still not clear what makes a single zygote separate into identical twins, triplets or quadruplets.
>"It's definitely an accident; it's not supposed to happen and, in some cases, like Ms. Fugate's, it happens in a spectacular manner," said the doctors at UMMC, reports Fox News.
Although not planned, Fugate considers the pregnancy and her four newborns "blessings" for her family.
The girls, named as Kenleigh, Kristen, Kaleigh and Kelsey, were all admitted to UMMC's neonatal intensive care unit due to their premature birth, having arrived at 28 weeks. They are scheduled to remain there until May.
