"Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing. " -Helen Keller

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

I wouldn't want this super power.

A Fort Smith, Arkansas mom appears to have the power of superfetation. Superfetation is defined as "successive fertilization of two or more ova of different ovulations resulting in the presence of embryos of unlike ages in the same uterus". *Todd and Julia Grovenburg are expecting two babies that appear to have been conceived approximately 2.5 weeks apart. Julia's OB went so far as to issue an official statement...
18 September 2009

To Whom It May Concern:

Mrs. Julia Grovenburg is pregnant with twins and there appears to be a discordant growth pattern, possibly due to superfetation. This is an unusual and rare condition, but the possibility is real. It can only be confirmed after delivery by chromosomal and metabolic studies on the babies. She was evaluated at UAMS in Little Rock for this condition and they confirmed the suspicion of superfetation.

Sincerely, M. Maylaert, M.D
Interestingly, this isn't the first time superfetation has been confirmed. Ame and Lia Herrity were born in 2007 and are a confirmed case of superfetation. But, the case that fascinates me the most is the birth of Harriet and Thomas Mullineux. Their case is proven beyond a shadow of a doubt due to extremely early ultrasounds because she thought she was miscarrying. The initial scan showed a sac with one healthy fetus and what appeared to be this fetus's twin which was being reabsorbed by the body. In addition, there was another small blob that looked like a sac being reabsorbed. When she went back two weeks later, both the existing fetus and the second sac had grown at appropriate rates for 2 weeks time and the second sac had a developing baby in it. In addition to these rare, million-to-one cases, there is a well documented superfetation hoax perpetrated by an Italian couple back in 2001.

Just when I thought I knew most things there are to know about our girly parts, I find out that - Yes, Virginia, women can ovulate more than once per cycle and a few rare women can get pregnant when they are already pregnant.


*The article/video provide additional details and is well worth reading.

13 comments:

Lori Lavender Luz said...

Wow! I had never heard of that. Some gals have all the "luck," huh?

AnotherDreamer said...

Woah. That is nuts.

I can't even ovulate once in a month, let alone twice! I am so jealous.

Alyssa said...

That's so crazy!! I wonder how far apart the second conception can occur from the first one.

niobe said...

Wow. Just wow.

Oh, and let me add that once, on the Maury Povich show, there was a case of superfetation where the alleged father was actually the father of one of the woman's twins, but not the other. Or at least that what I heard.

Lollipop Goldstein said...

That is insane. And sure--I'm jealous that I can't even do it once vs. two or more times :-)

Anonymous said...

bodies are so weird :)

Anonymous said...

Whoa....that is really weird. At this point though, I'd probably take superfetation over no fetation.

ICLW

Beautiful Mess said...

WOW! that's pretty crazy. I've heard about this before, but always thought it was a myth or some over exaggeration. Guess not, interesting.
*HUGS*

Jaymee said...

wow!! as much as i would have loved the power of fertility, that i snot the kind i would have chosen!! i always thought that just happened on soap operas.

Flutterby918 said...

Interesting!! I had seen something like this on Grey's Anatomy I believe. I will have to read the article further!

ICLW

..al said...

Yes, I have seen this on Discovery. A woman can have twins with each of the twin having a different father for the simple fact that the woman ovulated twice.

Sigh.

chris brown said...

God Bless Her I hope she is happy with two instead of one..

Billy said...

Wow! That's amazing!