The Improbable Conception

By Sheilah Downey

Julie Grovenburg said it was a "shocking, absolutely shocking experience" to find that she had conceived two children, two weeks apart, according to a KFSM-TV news report.

Julia and her husband Todd had been trying to have children for several years and were about to adopt when they discovered she was pregnant, twice at two different times.

The couple, from Fort Smith, Ark., said they were shocked when the doctor said the baby was 11 weeks old, because they were convinced she was only eight and a half weeks along, according to the news report.

Doctors have evaluated the mother and said it appears to be "unusual and rare condition" called superfetation, meaning to conceive while already pregnant.

It can only be confirmed after delivery, said her doctor, by doing chromosomal and metabolic studies on the babies.

The younger of the two babies will be born first, according to KFSM, because of where he is positioned in the womb.

Both babies are expected to be born together in December.

The Grovenburg's have already earned a spot in Wikipedia with this notice published recently:

"In 2009, Todd and Julia Grovenburg of Fort Smith, Arkansas received national media attention for Mrs. Grovenburg's conception of an additional child while already pregnant with a child conceived two and a half weeks earlier. If it were possible to carry both children to term, the birth of the first child would be expected in December 2009, whereas the second child would be due in January 2010."