A mother who was already pregnant received an astonishing surprise when she found out she was expecting another baby, conceived one month apart from her initial pregnancy. This remarkable occurrence, known as superfetation, brought immense joy to Sophie Small, an exceptionally fertile woman.
Sophie and her husband Jonathan, an accountant, were actively trying to conceive another child, as they were already parents to their 6-year-old son, Oscar. Despite having a feeling that she might be pregnant, Sophie and Jonathan decided to continue their efforts just to be sure. The 30-year-old, who worked as a swimming instructor, was overjoyed when a pregnancy test confirmed her suspicions.
However, her excitement was soon accompanied by severe morning sickness, leading to her hospitalization on seven occasions. During a seven-week scan, doctors made an astonishing discovery — Sophie was carrying twins.
The medical professionals were perplexed by the difference in size between the two babies until they realized that Sophie had ovulated twice. She had been extra fertile even when she was already expecting her first child.
It was only after the birth in August 2020 that the couple became aware that the twins were conceived at different times. Darcy, the first to arrive, weighed only 4lbs 2oz, while her sister followed just two minutes later, weighing 6lbs 1oz.
“I was carrying two babies who were growing at different stages, but we didn’t know that,” explained Sophie. She hails from Herefordshire, England.
“They couldn’t work out why I was so sick. I had a scan at seven weeks and they said they could tell something wasn’t right. They couldn’t work out why one twin was bigger than the other.”
“They had their own sacs and placentas so they could feed when they wanted to,” she also added.
“When they were born there was a 35 percent growth difference between the two of them, which is massive and they [the staff] realized they’d been conceived four weeks apart.”
“Darcy was a 32-week baby and Holly was a 36-week baby. I said it couldn’t be right, I’d never heard of it. I didn’t know how it happened.”
The mother explains that despite being twins, the tots couldn’t be more dissimilar. Holly, the girly-girl, still outweighs tomboy Darcy by 6 pounds. She enjoys perplexing strangers on the street who inquire about the age difference between the girls. It’s hard for many to believe that they are twins when she reveals the truth.
“I say Darcy is two minutes older and four weeks younger, while Holly was born two minutes after but is four weeks older.”
“They don’t even look like sisters, you wouldn’t even know,” said Sophie. “Holly has blonde hair, big beautiful blue eyes and wants to be a princess or a jockey.
“Darcy’s hair is a mousey brown hair, she’s a tomboy and wants to be a train driver.”
“They’ve started nursery (school) and they’re very confident. It was so difficult but they’re absolutely thriving.”
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