Florida woman gives birth to two sets of twins in one year
A Florida woman was doubly surprised last year to deliver two sets of twins and to learn they run in her family, NBC News reports.
Alexzandria Wolliston gave birth to her first set of twin boys, Mark and Malakhi, in March, and her second set, Kaylen and Kayleb, in December, all of whom she said were conceived naturally.
Wolliston, 25, said that prior to giving birth to Mark and Malakhi, she was unaware twins ran in both sides of her family.
"When my mom told me, and my aunties and uncles on my dad's side told me, I was like shocked," she said Wednesday.
She also learned that her maternal and paternal grandmothers had each delivered twins who died at birth.
Wolliston said she believes her twins were heaven sent from her grandmothers, both of whom are deceased.
“Both of my grandmothers are no longer here, so I feel like they’re watching over me,” she said.
Wolliston, who lives in West Palm Beach and is also the mother of a 2-year-old girl, said she learned in June that she was expecting her second set of twins.
"I never thought that it could happen that fast and it did," she said, adding that she was worried about how her body "would be able to handle a back-to-back twin pregnancy."
Wolliston said her doctor told her she had better chances of winning the lottery than having two sets of twins and delivering them in the same year.
The 2018 twin birth rate was 32.6 twins per 1,000 births, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Her first set of twins were considered high risk, she said, because they were in the same sac using only one placenta. Because of this, she would visit her doctor weekly or bi-weekly. But her second set of twins each had their own sac and she was only required to visit her doctor once a month throughout her pregnancy, she said.