Superfetation: Surrogate Mother Becomes Pregnant “Again” During Surrogacy

An Expensive Alternative to Natural Pregnancy

Surrogacy is the medical term used to describe a type of pregnancy where the fertilized embryo of another woman is implanted in a surrogate mother's womb who then brings the child to term, after which the child is given over to the biological parents.

And this procedure is very expensive because pregnancy is a challenging phase in every woman's life and exposes her to various medical conditions, like gestational diabetes and increased risk of death.

That's why when Jessica Allen signed up to become a surrogate through the Omega Family Global IVF Center in San Diego, she was slated to earn $30,000 (paid in installments over 9 months) if she could bring to term the child of a Chinese couple identified as "Lius" that she was matched to.

But it was 6 weeks into her surrogate pregnancy that something surprising showed up in her scans - a second child that was not there earlier.
The Lius were overjoyed that they were going to receive twins in place of a single child and Jessica's payment was increased by $5,000. But what Jessica or the Lius were not told by the medical staff was that the two babies were in separate sacs, which is not the case in a twin pregnancy.

The Ordeal After Delivery

Jessica became pregnant through surrogacy in April 2016. And in December of that very year, she gave birth to the two children.

As per the rules, the babies were taken from her immediately after delivery and she was not even allowed to hold them. The nurses later showed her pictures of the children, but that did little to soothe her broken heart.

Nevertheless, if it had been a regular case of surrogacy, Jessica would have gotten over her heartbreak in time and continued with her life. But hers was not, and that's why after a month of the delivery, Jessica was contacted by Mrs. Liu who sent her pictures of the then 1-month old babies and asked her if she had any idea why the children looked so different.

What happened after this may sound unbelievable, but it's true.

The Lius got their babies a DNA test and discovered that only one of the children was theirs. The other was the biological son of Jessica and her boyfriend, Jasper.
The revelation was equally shocking for Jessica and Jasper because they had always taken precautions and used condoms during sex after she got pregnant with the surrogate child.

Superfetation – Medical Miracle or Nightmare?

Superfetation is an extremely rare type of pregnancy where a pregnant woman develops another fetus within her womb in the middle of the original pregnancy. And with only 10 cases reported so far in medical history, it is often looked upon with skepticism.

Nevertheless, if Jessica had been a regular pregnant woman, this incidence of superfetation wouldn't have mattered as much. But since it occurred during a surrogacy, what followed was a lengthy legal battle during which the Lius demanded $22,000 as compensation for all the grievance caused to them.

The fertility center tried to compensate this demand by putting up Jessica's son for adoption so some other wealthy family could pay off the Lius. But Jessica and Jasper were adamant about having their son back and so they contacted lawyers and fought this demand down to zero.

The social workers were of no help either as they demanded Jessica pay them to "adopt" her own son.