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6 answers

Possible? Yes. Likely? No. This type of pregnancy is called either Superfetation or Superfecundation (described below). They are considered fraternal twins only by virtue of the fact they occupy the womb at the same time. But their gestational periods are different and so result in lower birth rate for one of the twins.

But still, as stated above, it's pretty rare for a woman to release an egg after she's already conceived. When pregnancy occurs, the hormonal changes signal the ovaries not to release any more eggs. Sometimes that gets bypassed and another pregnancy occurs.

The following was found at the site below. Interesting facts about twins, including the type you're asking about.

"Superfetation - The development of a second fetus when one is already present in the uterus. It occurs when a women ovulates more than one egg but the eggs are released at different times, sometimes up to 24 days apart, and they are fertilized when they are released. The resulting twins would have different conception dates, so the babies may be very different in size and have different due dates. A woman can also conceive twins at different times when a woman conceives via IVF and also conceives naturally around the same time.

"Superfetation can be detected via ultrasound. Many cases are discovered due to the large differences in weight and size of the babies, and the exclusion of Twin to Twin Transfusion Syndrome. Superfetation is a fairly rare occurence in humans (naturally), and only occurs when the mother has two uteri, or the menstrual cycle continues during pregnancy.

"Superfecundation - This happens when the mother ovulates more than one egg in one cycle and has more than one partner during her fertile period. One egg is fertilized with sperm from one partner, and the other egg from sperm of the second partner. These types of twins are always fraternal, and are genetically half siblings, despite being twins. There have been cases of this occuring, but it is still a fairly rare occurence."

2006-09-04 16:55:13 · answer #1 · answered by Jen 6 · 1 0

It is conceivable (pun intended) but it's dependant on whether the woman has released two eggs during ovulation. The fertilization that occurred for the first egg would also most likely to be the time when fertilization occurs for the second egg. But the release of eggs could be not exactly in sync, so the second egg was not in the proper placement in the Fallopian tubes during the first fertilization event. So a second round of sperm may fertilize the second egg, resulting in "fraternal" twins
Very unlikely, though.

2006-09-05 00:05:58 · answer #2 · answered by borscht 6 · 0 0

it is possible, especially if the woman involved hyper ovulates which i do, and have given birth to fraternal male twins conceived one week apart

2006-09-05 07:48:54 · answer #3 · answered by sharipoos22 4 · 0 0

not really.. for one thing its rare to mature and release two eggs in one cycle.

2006-09-04 23:48:51 · answer #4 · answered by Mina222 5 · 0 0

not likely

2006-09-05 00:03:50 · answer #5 · answered by sllyjo 5 · 0 0

not really

2006-09-04 23:49:55 · answer #6 · answered by Ms. Plummer 5 · 0 0

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