In Rare Case, Mother Delivers Two Sets of Identical Twins, Back to Back [Six Months Apart]

LiveScience ^ | 2/25 | Nicoletta Lanese

[nickcarraway]

A mother in Alabama gave birth to rare "MoMo" twins after a previous twin pregnancy.

In a rare case, a mother in Alabama gave birth to two sets of identical twins in back-to-back pregnancies.

Britney Alba learned she was pregnant with twins for the second time roughly six months after she'd given birth to her first set of twins, a pair of boys named Luka and Levi, according to a statement(opens in new tab) from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB).

The first set of twins shared the same placenta — the organ that connects the uterus to the umbilical cord and supplies fetuses with nutrition and oxygen — but each had his own amniotic sac — the thin-walled, liquid-filled sac that surrounds fetuses as they develop. Twins with one placenta but two amniotic sacs are known as monochorionic-diamniotic twins, and they occur at a rate of about 3 to 4 in 1,000 live births, according to the Columbia University Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology(opens in new tab).

During pregnancy, monochorionic-diamniotic twins are at risk of twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome, where one fetus receives significantly more blood and nourishment than the other, Dr. Rachel Sinkey(opens in new tab), an assistant professor in the UAB Marnix E. Heersink School of Medicine’s Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, said in a video interview(opens in new tab) with UAB. However, Luka and Levi were born without complications.

Alba's second set of twins, born in October 2022 and named Lynlee and Lydia, differed from the first in that they shared one placenta and one amniotic sac, meaning they were monoamniotic-monochorionic twins. So-called "MoMo" twins are among the rarest types of twins, making up less than 1% of births in the U.S., according to UAB.

Specifically, they represent about 1% of twin pregnancies and less than

[kiryandil]

I love a story with a happy ending. :)

[RatRipper]

Reminds me of an old joke:

A guy asks and experienced Dad how long you have to wait after the child is born to have sex with your wife?

His answer: It depends on whether your wife has a private room in the maternity ward. . . .

Ba da boom

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

Irish quadruplets.

[one guy in new jersey]

Easy now! Resembling that remark...🤨

[BamaBelle]

My identical twins shared one sac. I was told it was rare. They will be 46 next Sept.

[Albion Wilde]

We used to just say "fraternal" or "identical", but it's no longer politically correct because the word fraternal "privileges" one sex, and doesn't pretend that gender is a thing; so we have to endure a brain dump of Latin terminology. Latin, you know, invented by the Romans but doubtless stolen from Africa.

Hey, medical writers: the Romans kept slaves!

Oh, ok, most of their slaves were white. You're good, then.

[Do_Tar]

Read the headline. Just delivering 6 months apart would be pretty rare in itself!

[SunkenCiv]

If there had been a happy ending, there’d be at least two fewer twins...