How did this mom conceive twins while already pregnant? Superfetation
Mom of four, Deonna Fletcher, shared how superfetation resulted in her being impregnated twice in the same week.
Superfetation, which occurs when a person is impregnated while already pregnant, is extremely rare, but after experiencing a superfetation pregnancy few years ago, a mom in Pittsburgh is warning others.
In a video recently posted to TikTok, Deonna Fletcher said after an at-home pregnancy test in 2020 came back positive, she rushed to her doctor to confirm, anxious to find out if she was pregnant with her first child. Days later, she was floored to discover that she was pregnant for a second time — that’s right, simultaneously with her first pregnancy — and was now carrying not just one, or even two, but three babies.
“I found out that I ovulated twice, two separate times. Not at the same time. It was one egg this time and one egg that time, and they both got fertilized at two different times,” Fletcher explained.
She said the most critical factor to consider was her medical history. The mom of four said she often experiences frequent periods, including up to three in a month.
“I’ve been this way since I was a teenager,” she said. “I got on birth control for a few years and was getting [my period] once a month. After I got off, it went back to two to three times. Now, after I had kids, I’m mainly getting it twice a month, sometimes three times.”
Since Fletcher naturally ovulates more than once a month, she may have unknowingly been more susceptible to developing a superfetation pregnancy. In her TikTok, the Pittsburgh-based mom admitted she and her husband, Antonio Livingston, “did the do” between confirming the first pregnancy and learning about the second. She also noted after learning she was initially pregnant, she got her period for a few days.
Despite clearly ovulating again while already pregnant, she explained that she and her husband were being “careless” and not using precautions because they assumed that she couldn’t get pregnant again while already pregnant.
She told People magazine, “About a week or two later, I was at work, and I was just in a lot of pain. I thought I was having a miscarriage, so I went to the ER to get another ultrasound and just to get checked up on, and that’s when they discovered that there were two more babies.”
Fletcher recalled the news being “so much to take in” at the time for both she and her husband.
“Of course, the first baby, he was happy, but [when] he found out it was two [more] babies, he was just really shocked,” she told the publication.
She also shared that she had a smooth double pregnancy and delivered the triplets – Amani, Amber, and Dream – via cesarean section on January 18, 2021, two weeks ahead of her scheduled due date. While the pregnancy and delivery were relatively okay, one of her triplets developed a cyst on her brain. Though it did go away, it was initially scary for the family. Fletcher said her daughter is now a budding genius.
“The one who had the cyst in her brain, she’s actually the smartest one. She’s very, very intelligent. It’s mind-blowing how smart she is,” she said.
Since Fletcher and her husband welcomed their triplets two years ago, the couple went on to have a son, 11-month-old Antonio Junior. The family keeps their social media pages updated with family-themed “Get Ready With Us” videos, hair routine videos, and even public service announcements.
Fletcher ended her TikTok about her superfetation experience with some advice.
“If this happened to me, it can happen to you too,” she said. “So wrap it up and take your birth control.”
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