Woman with rare double uterus gives birth to twins

A woman in northwestern China made headlines last month when she gave birth to twins, each from a different uterus, a condition that health officials and state media have described as extremely rare. The remarkable birth took place at Xi’an People’s Hospital in Shaanxi province.

Identified only by her last name, Li, the mother welcomed a boy and a girl via caesarean section. According to the hospital, the twins were conceived naturally and carried to term, despite being housed in separate uteruses—an event described as a “one in a million” occurrence.

“It is extremely rare for twins to be conceived naturally in each cavity of the uterus, and even rarer for them to be carried to term,” the hospital stated on its official Weibo account on September 18.

Li was born with a condition called uterine didelphys, in which a woman has two separate uteruses and two cervixes. This rare condition is found in about 1 in 2,000 women. Although many women with uterine didelphys can have normal pregnancies, the occurrence of twins in separate wombs is almost unheard of.

Li’s story quickly gained attention across Chinese social media, with her case becoming a trending topic. The story has accumulated more than 50 million views on various platforms, where users have expressed amazement and offered messages of support.

Some users voiced concerns for Li’s well-being, recognizing the potential risks involved in such a rare pregnancy. “This must have been tough and dangerous for her!” another user wrote.

The birth marks a happy ending for Li after facing challenges in her previous pregnancy, which tragically ended in miscarriage. However, in January of this year, she discovered during an early ultrasound that she was pregnant with twins—one in each of her wombs.

Thanks to “close and strict” medical supervision, the pregnancy reached a successful conclusion. Li delivered a healthy boy weighing 7 pounds, 19 ounces, and a girl weighing 5 pounds, 5 ounces