An Australian mother became pregnant twice in less than three weeks, she revealed in an interview published Monday.
This phenomenon, called superfetation, is exceedingly rare and has only been documented 10 times across the globe, the West Australian reported. The Australian couple, Sandra and David Searle, were unaware that they had already naturally conceived a daughter when they successfully implanted an embryo via In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) 18 days later, PerthNow reported. Both babies were born in April of this year, the outlet reported. (RELATED: Rihanna Shares Rare First Pics Of Newborn Son After Quiet Pregnancy)
The couple named their daughter Poppy and called their artificially conceived son Michael, Australian Broadcasting Corporation News reported. Poppy is a little larger than Michael due to her being conceived earlier, while Michael was born prematurely, ABC News noted. The couple previously had two children through IVF, the outlet reported.
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Sandra Searle told PerthNow that the naturally conceived pregnancy was “[a] very welcome surprise.” Her husband, David, had been told years ago that natural conception was unlikely due to his testicular cancer, the outlet reported. “[David has] been in remission for a few years now, so he’s doing really well,” Sarah told the outlet.
Sandra’s doctor told ABC News that the double pregnancy was a “medical miracle.”