It turns out that you can carry your own child under your heart, but not guess about it. Jessica Allen, a surrogate mother from California, gave birth to twins for an infertile couple from China. The woman did not expect a dirty trick, but it turned out that one of the children was her own. The genetic error was not immediately noticed, and both children were given up for foster parents.
Surrogacy is a scheme in which three people participate in the conception and bearing of a child. Biological mother and father give their germ cells. They are fertilized in the laboratory, and then the embryo is transferred to the uterus of a surrogate mother. She bears the child, and then passes it to the biological parents. So an infertile couple gets their child genetically, but another woman bears and gives birth to him.
According to the BBC, Jessica Allen spontaneously ovulated while pregnant. This phenomenon is called superfetation and is very rare in humans. But in cats – as much as you like. In the spring, a street cat can have kittens from several fathers at once and bear them at the same time.
It is difficult to suspect superfetation before childbirth. The second pregnancy appears against the background of the first, and the difference between the children is very small – 2-4 weeks. Jessica went to an ultrasound, where the doctors saw the twins, made sure that the pregnancy was going well – and they calmed down on this.
The error was noticed only after the birth of the twins. Jessica saw photos of the boys growing up and noticed that they were very different. Only one of the boys was clearly Asian. This could not be if the children were identical twins. And there were no other options to get twins, because only one embryo was transferred to Jessica during IVF.
The DNA test put everything in its place. A year after giving birth, Jessica managed to get her son back through the courts. In an interview with the New York Post, she shared her experience: “I don’t regret becoming a surrogate because that would mean regretting my son. I just hope that other women considering surrogacy can learn from my story.”
