Five years ago, on Valentine’s Day, Briton from Wales Joanna Gregory gave birth to twin girls. Four years later, Joanna got pregnant again and had twins again – girls again, and again on February 14, just 5 years later. The probability of such a coincidence is 1 in 32 million!
Joan Gregory, 40, from Gorsdock, West Wales, has done what statistics say is impossible. The woman gave birth to two sets of twin girls with a difference of five years, and on the same day – February 14!
The probability of such a coincidence is thought to be no more than one in 32 million, and yet Joanna did it! A woman gives birth to her first set of twins, Laura and Lexi February 14, 2005.
And exactly five years later, on February 14, 2020, she gave birth to two more twins, as well as daughters – Ela and Ava. The parents were expecting the cubs to be born on April 7, but they were born a month and a half early, just in time for the older sisters’ birthday.
Joan jokes that her husband, Chris Lowell, will never forget to wish her a happy Valentine’s Day again!
Joanna says she considers the incident a “true miracle”, despite the premature birth of the cubs.
Due to their low birth weight, particularly for Ella, the girls spent several days in intensive care receiving supplemental oxygen before being transferred to a specialist neonatal center in Newport.
Ava and Ella were born by caesarean section, the weight of each of the girls was about 1300 grams. “Lola and Lexi were also born small, but Ava and Ella were even smaller,” says Joanna.
Due to birth issues, Joanna was unable to hold her daughters until three days after birth. “It broke my heart that I couldn’t even pick them up,” says Joanna.
“But there is nothing to do, it was necessary. Joanna adds that she is eternally grateful to the doctors who saved the lives of her youngest daughters.
Ava was the first to be discharged from the hospital, Ella had to stay there for a few more days, but in the end both girls were sent home safely. The twins are feeling well and their condition does not worry the doctors. According to Joanna, Ava is already drinking milk by herself, Ella also catches her.
According to Joanna, neither she nor her husband had twins in the family – the most surprising thing for them was the birth of Lola and Lexi. And the appearance of Ava and Ella was a surprise!
Twins are not born very often in Britain. In the past year, 12,000 sets of twins were born in the country and triplets were born to 190 mothers. In other words, more than one cub is born in one of the 65 births.
The probability of giving birth to more than one set of twins in a woman’s lifetime is very low, and the probability of both pairs being born on the same day is no more than one in 32 million.
Joanna and her family are very happy that their life has turned out in such an unusual way!
