Defying odds, mother with rare heart-shaped uterus delivers 'one-in-500-million' twins

A mother, owning a rare heart-shaped uterus, gave birth to a 'one-in-500-million' pair of twins, defying all odds.

Karen Troy, aged 25, spoke about her pregnancy as she expressed her shock when she discovered about her pregnancy with twins and had a 'heart-shaped' bicornuate uterus in March 2021.

A women's chance of getting pregnant with twins is approximately one in 500 million with a heart-shaped womb.

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Till 34 weeks, the mother's pregnancy went smoothly, however, later she developed pre-eclampsia and was rushed to the hospital to get a c-section when her blood pressure increased.

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The birth of twins of the mother, Ryan and Raelynn, took place on September 5 2021. The twins weighed 5lbs 10oz and 5lbs 1oz, and were kept at Umass memorial medical centre in Massachusetts for 27 days, before the twins were sent home.

Speaking about her pregnancy, Karen said, "I was more worried about the fact I was having two babies than having a heart-shaped uterus. I just wanted to make sure they were OK. I didn't believe I had a heart-shaped uterus at first so I went back for another scan to make sure it was true."

"I was monitored closely because it was a high-risk pregnancy. It was really emotional seeing them for the first time because they were tiny. I was so happy but scared to have two tiny babies. We were so excited when we got them home," she added.

Karen along with her husband, Shaunan, were very happy when they heard the pregnancy news in January 2021.

However, the couple were worried when they found out about the heart-shaped uterus.

Karen said, "It's very rare to have a heart-shaped uterus and fall pregnant with twins. I remember being confused at the scan. I just kept asking: 'Are they OK?'"

The mother decided to go for another scan to confirm reports of the first sonography. "They said my pregnancy was very high risk because I had a heart-shaped uterus and was expecting twins," she stated.

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The doctors closely monitored Karen throughout her pregnancy.

Throughout her pregnancy, she was closely monitored. Her condition of pre-eclampsia was detected by doctors which caused high blood pressure and an emergency c-section was performed after 34 weeks.

"The first 24 hours were really hard for me. I had to stay in a machine to stop any seizures from the pre-eclampsia. The twins had to stay in the NICU to learn to feed and stabilise their breathing. Ryan's heart rate kept going up and down," Karen said.

(With inputs from agencies)