A woman found out she had two wombs and two cervixes when she went to the dotor for a usual pap smear, The Daily Mail reported on Tuesday.
Jane Woodhead, 38, of Wales, was oblivious that she had a condition called uterus didelphys, causing women to be born with any pair of two cervixes, two wombs and at times, two vaginas. Only 3 percent of women born every year have this condition.
This makes it physically possible to be pregnant with two babies: one in each womb.
After her diagnosis, Woodhaven was told by doctors that she would need to undergo invetro fertilization treatments if she wanted to conceive. Carrying a pregnancy to term would also come with additional risk of complications.
But before she could go for her IVF treatments, Woodhead found out she became pregnant naturally, and nicknamed her daughter, Grace, her "miracle baby."
"When I was told about the uterus didelphys it was a huge surprise, as I'd been having routine smears for years and no one had picked it up," she told the Daily Mail."
The condition develops in utero because the uterus of a female fetus starts off as two small tubes. Usually, as the fetus grows, the tubes join together to create the womb. But in uterus didelphys, the tubes don't join and one develops into a second uterus. The condition usually isn't detected until after puberty.
Woodhead said she had 17 ultrasounds in her 39 weeks of pregnancy to closely monitor her baby. She said the risk of complications worried her, and wasn't able to relax until her due date was upon her.
Grace Violet Herridge, Woodhaven's "little miracle," was born on July 18.
In 2009, another woman was diagnosed with the rare condition. Lindsay Hasaj, a London resident, found out she had two cervixes, two wombs and two vaginas at the age of 27 after seeking medical attention for abdominal pain, ABC News reported. Having two vaginas reportedly does not look any different on the outside and it's hard to detect during sex or pelvic exams.
