'I gave birth to two babies at the same time, but they're not twins'

“We went back to the clinic and started the frozen transfer cycle for the third embryo," mum Sandra said. “It turns out we were already pregnant, but it didn’t get picked up in the early scans and blood tests."

Joel Erickson

2 min read

September 27, 2023 - 4:13PM

Sandra and David Searle with their 'twins' Poppy and Michael. Picture: The West Australian

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An Aussie mum has spoken of her shock at learning she’d conceived two children in less than a month - an extremely rare phenomenon recorded just 10 times worldwide.

Perth couple Sandra and David Searle had no idea they had naturally conceived their daughter Poppy while undergoing IVF treatment, and they successfully implanted an embryo 18 days later.

The West reports the phenomenon is called superfetation, and their son Michael was the result of the second pregnancy.

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The ‘twins’ were born in April this year.

Michael was their third child born by IVF. Their first round delivered their five-year-old daughter Georgia, and they had three-year-old Fred two years later.

Sandra told The West the third cycle was initially “put on ice”.

Sandra and David Searle with their 'twins' Poppy and Michael. Picture: The West Australian

"It turns out we were already pregnant"

“We were just in a position where we thought, ‘yeah, OK, we could have a child now’,” she said. “We went back to the clinic and started the frozen transfer cycle for the third embryo.

“It turns out we were already pregnant, but it didn’t get picked up in the early scans and blood tests.

“Initially we didn’t understand how it could have happened, especially when you’re going through IVF and it’s all very scientific, facts-based stuff.”

Sandra said the double pregnancy was “surprising” but a “very welcome surprise”.

Sandra and David's twins Poppy and Michael. Picture: The West Australian

"Nobody had a textbook on how to handle the situation"

The 36-year-old had a rough pregnancy that ended with her in hospital for two weeks before Poppy and Michael were born.

She told The West she was also worried by the fact her two babies were developing at different rates.

“My obstetrician really wanted me to get to 39 weeks with baby number one, and then baby number two would have been 36-and-a-half weeks,” she said. “That didn’t eventuate in the end.

“Because that didn’t happen, nobody really had a textbook on how to handle the situation.

“It was just a really difficult time.”

Thankfully, and despite Sandra’s concerns, both Poppy and Michael were born healthy. Michael was born at 35 weeks and weighed a kilogram less than his big sister.

“They’re just beautiful babies,” Sandra told The West. “They’re developing and thriving - they’re doing really well.

“There is a significant difference between them though. Poppy is rolling over, but Michael’s not there yet. He’s probably a month behind developmentally.”

The Searle family with their two older children Georgia and Fred. Picture: The West Australian

"We just didn't anticipate falling pregnant naturally"

The ‘twins’ are now five months old, and the Searles are still shocked at how they became a family of six.

David had been diagnosed with testicular cancer years earlier and was warned that natural conception was unlikely for him.

He decided to have his sperm frozen before undergoing chemotherapy to keep kids an option down the track.

“After everything we’ve been through in the past eight years, we just didn’t anticipate falling pregnant naturally,” Sandra told The West.

“He’s been in remission for a few years now, so he’s doing really well.

“The first time we took our daughter to see his oncologist at the time, he was over the moon because having children was up in the air a few years ago.”