Woman with two uteruses gives birth to twins in Turkey

A highly unusual case occurred in Turkey: 28-year-old Serenay Atagün from Rize gave birth to two girls, with one daughter spending the entire pregnancy in one uterus and the other in the second. Both pregnancies followed IVF. Doctors describe this as the third such case in the world involving pregnancies achieved through IVF.

To understand how unusual this story is, we first need to explain what having «two uteruses» means.

How can a woman have two uteruses?

Normally, a woman has one uterus — the organ where a baby grows during pregnancy.

Serenay had different anatomy from birth. She was diagnosed with uterus didelphys — a double uterus. Simply put, instead of one uterus, she had two separate uterine cavities.

This does not necessarily mean that a woman will have problems becoming pregnant. Some women with this condition can conceive naturally. However, pregnancy with a double uterus requires particularly careful medical monitoring. According to the doctor, this anomaly occurs in approximately 0.3% of women.

But the most interesting part happened next.

Doctors did something that normally does not happen

Serenay and her husband Selçuk had been trying to become parents for six years. The woman had already undergone IVF treatment three times, but the previous pregnancies ended in miscarriages.

During the next attempt, doctors decided to use an unusual approach.

Serenay had two uteruses, so the specialists transferred one embryo into each uterus.

Imagine two separate rooms. In a typical pregnancy, a baby develops in one room — the uterus. Here, the doctors essentially placed one embryo in each of the two rooms.

And the most incredible thing happened: both embryos successfully implanted.

As a result, two pregnancies began developing at the same time — one in the first uterus and the other in the second. This is what doctors call a dicavitary, or double-uterus, twin pregnancy.

In other words, these were not ordinary twins developing in the same uterus. Each girl developed separately — in her own uterus.

Why is this such a rare case?

A double uterus is itself a rare congenital condition. But becoming pregnant in both uteruses at the same time is an entirely different situation.

Here, an even more unusual combination occurred: the pregnancy followed IVF, doctors transferred one embryo into each uterus, and both embryos implanted and continued to develop.

The attending physician, an obstetrics, gynaecology and IVF specialist at Medical Park Karadeniz Hospital, Dr Ufuk Yılmaz, said that this type of pregnancy following IVF is considered the third recorded case in the world. According to him, two similar cases occurred in Turkey and one in China.

At the same time, the phrase «one case in a million» is best understood as an estimate of exceptional rarity cited by doctors and Turkish media, rather than as absolutely precise statistics.

The pregnancy was maintained until the 33rd week

The pregnancy was considered high-risk, so Serenay remained under constant medical supervision.

The main problem was that two pregnancies were developing simultaneously in two separate uterine cavities. Doctors expected an increased risk of premature birth.

Ultimately, the pregnancy was maintained until the 33rd week.

Then premature labour began. The doctors decided to perform a caesarean section. During the operation, they delivered one girl from each uterus.

The girls were named Nil and Ada.

Since the babies were born prematurely, they were transferred to the neonatal intensive care unit immediately after birth. After a period of monitoring and treatment, both girls recovered enough to be discharged from the hospital together with their mother.

Six years of waiting ended with two children at once

For Serenay and her husband, this story was especially significant not only from a medical perspective but also on a personal level.

The couple had been trying to have a child for six years. Their three previous IVF attempts had ended unsuccessfully. Only the fourth attempt brought results — and instead of one child, the family welcomed two daughters at once.

Serenay herself said that she was particularly worried because the girls were born at 33 weeks. But after hearing their voices, she realised that everything was all right.