A woman from South Wales discovered, to her shock, that she was born with a very rare condition that affects only three percent of women: she had a second uterus and cervix.
Jane Woodhead, 38, was told of the anomaly in her reproductive system after a routine pap smear test, a standard procedure she had done regularly in the past. Never did she detect her double organs before.
Her extra set of reproductive organs was a result of her uterus not forming properly when she was still a fetus.
In all females fetuses, the uterus develops from two small tubes. As the baby forms during gestation, the tubes eventually fuse into one larger organ.
However, in rare cases, the tubes do not develop normally and can cause a woman to have two uteri, two cervixes, and sometimes, even two vaginas. The condition is known as "uterus didelphys," which simply means double uterus.
Although a woman may go through her whole life without ever knowing she has an extra uterus, especially if she does not have an extra vagina, women born with uterus didelphys often have trouble getting pregnant and are at a higher risk of miscarriage and pre-term births.
In rare instances, a woman with two uteri could also carry non-identical twins, with one fetus developing in each separate uterus.
In the case of Woodhead, doctors told her that if she hoped to conceive, she would have to look into in-vitro fertilization (IVF) treatments, a procedure that can be very costly and has a waiting period of at least 18 months.
Woodhead, who wanted to have a child with her partner, Paul Herridge, signed up for treatments. Even before their first appointment, however, she began to feel ill and went to see her doctor. It was then she was told that a miracle had happened: she was seven weeks pregnant.
Although doctors kept a close watch on Woodhead's pregnancy due to the known complications that could arise from the condition, she and her partner welcomed a healthy baby girl into the world three months ago.
Woodhead and Herridge named their daughter Grace Violet Herridge, who was born just 11 days after Woodhead's 40th birthday.
"She's my little miracle. I still stare at her for hours even now 12 weeks after she was born and can't believe she is really mine," Woodhead said.
