Certainly! Here's the English version of the story:
A mother who thought she was pregnant with twins was left baffled when she found out that her daughters were actually conceived one month apart. Sophie Small, 30, and her husband Jonathan, 34, from Leominster in Herefordshire, were trying for a second baby in 2019.
Mrs. Small said she knew she was "very fertile" because of how quickly she previously fell pregnant with her son Oscar, six.
Despite having a hunch that she fell pregnant in December after experiencing headaches, the couple decided to keep trying in January 2020 just in case. The swimming instructor was thrilled when a test confirmed she was pregnant, and scans suggested it was twins.
It wasn't until Mrs. Small gave birth to Darcy and Holly that doctors realized her pregnancy was an incredibly rare phenomenon known as superfetation, when a second pregnancy occurs just days or weeks after the first.
However, babies born this way are not officially considered twins.
Sophie Small (pictured with her daughters), 30, and her husband Jonathan, 34, from Leominster in Herefordshire, were trying for a second baby in 2019.
Mrs. Small (pictured with her daughters) said she knew she was "very fertile" because of how quickly she previously fell pregnant with her son Oscar, six. Mrs. Small first became concerned when she started suffering "horrific" morning sickness, which saw her hospitalized eight times in seven weeks, spending 120 hours hooked up to a drip.
She went for a scan at seven weeks to make sure all was well, which revealed that she was carrying two babies. But medics were left puzzled as the pair were different sizes.
Mrs. Small said, "They couldn't work out why I was so sick. I had a scan at seven weeks, and they said it was a bit different. 'I was expecting twins, but one was bigger than the other. They could tell something wasn't right.'"
At a 29-week scan, doctors told Mrs. Small they couldn't detect movement from the smaller twin and they may need to induce labor, leaving her "distraught." Medics delayed Mrs. Small from giving birth until August by using medication.
It was only when Mrs. Small gave birth in August 2020 that doctors realized it was superfetation. Superfetation occurs when an egg is fertilized by sperm and implants itself in the womb for a second time, usually a few weeks after the process happened for the first time.
It is extremely rare, with only a few cases ever reported in medical literature. Doctors have identified superfetation in the UK, Italy, and Canada. Superfetation is tricky to diagnose, as the presence of two fetuses in the womb is usually assumed to be twins.
However, a tell-tale sign is the two fetuses growing at different rates. Babies born through superfetation are usually considered twins, as they are often born on the same day. However, they are not officially twins.
Twins are either identical - when a single egg splits in two after being fertilized - or non-identical, when two separate eggs are released from an ovary at the same time and are fertilized by different sperm, then implanted into the womb.
Darcy was born at 32 weeks weighing 4lbs 2oz, and her sister followed two minutes later, at 36 weeks, weighing 6lbs 10oz. Mrs. Small said, "I was carrying two babies who were growing at different stages, but we didn't know that. 'They had their own sacs and placentas so they could feed when they wanted to.'"
Despite being twins, the pair are very different, and there is a 6lb (2.7kg) weight difference between them, Mrs. Small said.
She said, "They don't even look like sisters; you wouldn't even know. Holly has blonde hair, big beautiful blue eyes, and wants to be a princess or a jockey. Darcy's hair is a mousey brown, she's a tomboy, and wants to be a train driver when she's older."
People think I'm a nutter when I explain. They ask how many minutes apart they are, and I say Darcy is two minutes older and four weeks younger, while Holly was born two minutes after but is four weeks older, and I just walk away.
"Some people question whether they are twins."
Mrs. Small added, "They're absolutely thriving. They've started nursery, and they're very confident.
"They're extremely active and lively. I had no idea what the future would hold for them when they were born.
"It was so difficult, but we're so happy and blessed to have them."
