A mother has revealed her surprise after giving birth to two babies in one year – after they each grew in her two different uteruses
Caroline Wortman, 30, from Woodstock, Georgia, was told that she may be infertile after being diagnosed with uterine didelphys – meaning she was born with two reproductive systems.
However she gave birth to daughter Josie in January 2021, and six months after her birth, discovered she was already expecting another baby.After learning she was pregnant again, she said she and her husband Nate were baffled, adding: ‘We were giggly with excitement but also still terrified.’
While her pregnancy was normal, she went into labour at 33 weeks and five days and the couple welcomed their son, Brooks, on Boxing Day 2021.
Caroline was 18 when she had her first appointment with the gynaecologist who, after completing the exam, told her that she had two cervixes.Uterine Didelphys is caused because when a female foetus is growing, the uterus starts out as two small tubes called Müllerian ducts.
These will eventually fuse together to form the reproductive system in a process called embryogenesis.
‘I did ask the doctor what having two cervixes meant and remember her telling me that I may be infertile and if I did become pregnant, it would likely be complicated and high risk.’
She added: ‘I think this took years and meeting my husband to really sink in, but it was always in the back of my mind.’
A couple of months later she went for an internal ultrasound where it was confirmed that she had two complete uteruses, and was diagnosed with uterine didelphys.
She was also told that it may be difficult for her to get pregnant in the future.
As she grew up, her diagnosis did not affect her life, but things changed when she met her now-husband Nate Daniel Wortman, 35, when she was 23.
They were introduced by a mutual friend while Nate was serving in the Army and was stationed near Caroline in Savannah, Georgia.
Eventually she opened up to him about her uterine didelphis.The couple were married in September 2019 and very quickly started trying for a family.
On April 25 2020, Caroline went out for a job but had to stop as she started to feel strange and out of breath.It then hit her that her period was a few days late, and she took a pregnancy test that she had bought months prior.‘Once it came back positive I had ideas in my head all these cute ways I wanted to tell him the news, but freaked out in the moment and just rushed downstairs and showed him the test.’The happy couple went to the doctors and found out she was seven weeks along, and continued to have monthly appointments and internal ultrasounds to check she was progressing smoothly.
Her uterus that was not carrying her baby was simply pushed aside as it grew, and little Josie Magnolia Wortman was born on January 2 2021 at a healthy six pounds.
The family-of-three spent a happy six months as just that, before Caroline started feeling nauseous while out at lunch with her parents the following June.
The couple had not been trying for a second baby, but at her next appointment Caroline discovered she was already almost ten weeks along – and the baby was growing in her other uterus.
She said: ‘The baby was small enough each time to see the other uterus and confirm which side the baby was in – Josie was in the right, Brooks was in the left.
While her pregnancy was normal, she went into labour at 33 weeks and five days, and was completely dilated by the time she reached the hospital.
‘Upon my cervix check in triage, the nurses felt the baby’s feet!’ she said.
Brooks Daniel Hayes Wortman was born on Boxing Day 2021 weighing just 5lbs 5oz, and remained in the NICU for nine days.
She shared her unique pregnancy story on TikTok, which now has over 930,000 views and nearly 39,000 likes, in order to raise awareness of fertility struggles.
‘For women with my specific diagnosis I just hope that this is one story that they can turn to and say ‘look, this girl was told no and she had two healthy babies in one year’,’ she said.
