Arkansas woman gets pregnant twice within 3 weeks

By David Liu

A pregnant woman in Fort Smith, Arkansas got fertilized against during the pregnancy, a condition medically called superfetation, ABC News reports. She is expected to have two babies, but not identical twins or fraternal twins.

Julia Grovenburg’s second baby was conceived about two and half weeks after the first pregnancy, according to statements given to KFSM-TV in Ft. Smith-Fayetteville, Arkansas, cited by ABC News.

Twins, identical or fraternal, are expected to be born on the same day.  But the Grovenburg babies would have separate due dates.

This is a rare occurrence. Usually, a woman after getting pregnant cannot get impregnated against during pregnancy because there are no eggs available for fertilization.

By definition, superfetation, extremely rare in humans, is the formation of a fetus while another embryo is already developing in the uterus.  It occurs only where there are two uteri, or where the menstrual cycle continues through pregnancy, according to Wikipedia.