Twins’ Different Fathers Stumps: DNA Paternity Test Reveals New Jersey Twins Have Different Dads
A set of twins having different fathers has stumped doctors in New Jersey.
According to Fox News, research has shown that the odds of having a set of twins, conceived by two separate fathers, is one in 13,000, and is known as heteropaternal superfecundation. While the odds are low, this is exactly what happened to one family in Passaic County, New Jersey.
Court documents identify the mother as only T.M. and say she delivered the set of twin girls in January of 2013. When she applied for child support, she named a man, identified as A.S., as the father of both girls. However, when T.M. revealed that she had had sex with both A.S. and another man within a week of one another, a DNA paternity test was requested.
The DNA test results were delivered in November of 2014 and revealed there was a 99.9 percent chance that each egg was fertilized by a different man during the same menstrual cycle. This is the first case in New Jersey to feature twins with different fathers and only the third in the United States.
Upon hearing the results of the paternity test, Passaic County Superior Court Judge Sohail Mohammed ruled on May 4 that A.S. would only be responsible for paying child support on one of the girls, according to Yahoo News. He will only be required to pay $28 a week. The support request on the other girl was dismissed. The other twin’s father has not been named.
Dr. Brooke Rossi, an obstetrician and gynecologist at University Hospitals McDonald’s Women’s Hospital in Cleveland, said having twins with different dads is a natural phenomenon, although rare. It occurs when a woman releases two eggs during her menstrual cycle, rather than one, and implant within the same time period.
“The sperm live in the genital tract for two days,” Rossi explained. “It’s possible a woman can have sex with a man on a Tuesday and have sex with a different man on Wednesday, and it is possible for [her] to get pregnant [with twins].”
[Photo via Shutterstock]
