Alabama woman with rare double uterus welcomes two baby girls. Are they twins?

A woman in Alabama born with a rare double uterus gave birth to two babies last week, one from each side.

Kelsey Hatcher from Dora, Alabama, welcomed two daughters and shared the news on Instagram Dec. 22. Hatcher posted several photos from the hospital where she posed with staff, her husband and her two newborn daughters.

“Our miracle babies were born!” Hatcher wrote in the caption. “They decided they were rare enough statistically that they should just go ahead and have their own birthdays too.”

She shared in the caption that one daughter, Roxi Layla, was born Dec. 19 at 7:49 p.m. while her sister, Rebel Laken, was born Dec. 20 at 6:09 a.m.

In a medical anomaly, Hatcher, who was born with a double uterus, became pregnant in both uteri. The condition occurs in 0.3% of women but releasing two eggs and carrying a baby in each uterus is incredibly rare and “classified as truly one in a million,” according to the University of Alabama at Birmingham Hospital, where Hatcher gave birth.

Dr. Shweta Patel, Hatcher’s obstetrician, shared some details about the birth with NBC affiliate WVTM in Birmingham, Alabama. Patel said that with baby No. 1, Hatcher was able to deliver vaginally, but had a caesarean section for the second.

“Lots of tears, lots of clapping, it was fun,” Hatcher said of giving birth to Roxi. “But then the reality hit that, OK, well, we have another one we’ve got to take care of, too.”

Hatcher had both her husband, Caleb, and Roxi in the room with her as Rebel was born.

“That was our first moment of just us four together. And really getting to breathe that in and be in the moment and look at the girls together,” she said.

But are Roxi and Rebel twins?

According to UAB, "technically, yes and no."

Identical twins are caused by a fertilized egg splitting and developing into babies with the same DNA, while fraternal twins are caused when two eggs are released, but they typically develop in one uterus during a pregnancy.

In Hatcher's case, two eggs were released, but they each developed in their own uterus. Twins are also likely to be delivered early, before 37 weeks, according to John Hopkins Medicine. Hatcher was induced at 39 weeks.

“I think it is safe to call the girls fraternal twins,” Dr. Richard Davis, a professor in the UAB Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine who helped manage the pregnancy, told the hospital. “At the end of the day, it was two babies in one belly at the same time. They just had different apartments.”

The couple were already parents to three children before they expanded their family again.

Hatcher previously told TODAY.com that she has known about her rare condition since she was 17 and had been warned of potential complications with pregnancy. When Hatcher discovered she was pregnant back in the spring, she said it was a moment of “complete shock” for her.

“We were done having children biologically,” she told TODAY.com. “And then when I found out I was pregnant, I was like, ‘Oh, my gosh.’”

When Hatcher went in for her ultrasound, at first the physician only saw one baby on the monitor. After she shared a reminder about her condition, they got their surprise — Hatcher was not pregnant with one, but two babies.

“As soon as she moved the ultrasound wand across my belly, I said, ‘Oh my gosh, there’s another one. Oh my gosh,’” Hatcher recalled. “She said, ‘Yes! There is.’ I was just in complete shock and think for the first, I don’t know, two to three weeks, my husband and I just laughed.”

In her Instagram post, Hatcher expressed gratitude for the doctors and staff at the hospital, adding, “Our team at UAB was incredible and we couldn’t have had a better experience!”

She said she “can’t wait to share the entire birth story” with her followers on social media, but will be taking the holiday to rest.

“While we are all home now, we will take the time bond, recover, and enjoy the holidays!” she said.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com