Can a woman have two uteri? Can she bear children from both?

Uterus Didelphys is a congenital anomaly in which a woman is born with two uteri. Calling it a rare condition, Dr Aradhana Singh, Additional Director, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Fortis Hospital, Noida said, “Double uterus is a condition where there are two cavities separately.” Also, according to a research published in PubMed Central, “this condition is less common than other uterine malformations and has been estimated to occur in 1/3000.”
Explaining its formation, Dr Singh said, “The uterus, and the whole genital tract in the female body, develop from two separate tubes. If these tubes do not fuse completely, such a condition arises. In some cases, the fusion of the tubes can occur at the mouth of the uterus (called the cervix), leading to a single mouth of the uterus. However, if the fusion fails there, a woman can develop two cervixes, and two vaginal separations in certain cases.”

Causes
Stressing that although “the reason behind the tubes not fusing properly is still not clear,” Dr Singh said that “genetic predisposition is the most probable cause for the anomaly.” She further explained that environmental factors, that might mutate the genes, can also cause a double uterus to develop in some women.
Uterus didelphys commonly known as the double uterus is a rare condition (Source: Getty Images )
Impact
Dr Singh told that “as such, the anomaly might or might not pose any health risks and most cases are asymptomatic”. However, in certain cases, some women might have “heavy bleeding, excruciating pain during periods, miscarriages, and difficulty in getting pregnant,” the expert said, adding that the condition can also increase the risk of C-section delivery.
Agreed Dr Preeti Rastogi, Additional Director, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Fortis Memorial Research Institute, Gurgaon and explained that since there are two uteri, their size is smaller than a normal uterus. “As a result, especially during the last trimester, the fetus grows but the uterus is not able to accommodate the ba which can lead to miscarriages or preterm labour leading to pre-mature deliveries. Lack of proper lining of the uterus in this condition can also lead to implantation failure,” she added.
But can a woman with two uteri bear children from both?
Dr Chennuru Nishitha, MS OBG, Andhra Pradesh, told that pregnancy can happen in either of the two uteruses. “However, which ovary is ovulating, in which fallopian tube is the conception occurring, and which uterus is functional can be the deciding factors,” she said. The doctor reiterated that pregnancies in case of a double uterus will have complications like “recurrent miscarriages, preterm deliveries, and rarely sometimes cause ruptured uterus.”
“In these cases, women usually will have preterm deliveries because the uterus can no longer accommodate the child owing to its small size and most of them will have short cervix also,” she added.
She further explained that normally, the upper region of the uterus is bigger than the lower region to accommodate the lower and wider part of the ba’s body (buttocks) and thus the ba is upside down in most pregnancies. However in the case of a double uterus, “the upper region can be narrower as compared to the lower end and hence the ba’s crown is in the upper part,” she said.
Diagnoses and treatment
The experts believe that usually, women do not face any issues because of which sometimes they do not come to know about their condition as well. However “routine pelvic checkups, ultrasound and MRI,” are generally used to diagnose double uterus, Dr Rastogi said.

Talking about treatments, the experts said most women do not require any kind of treatment for it. “If someone is having recurring miscarriage then surgery can be considered,” said Dr Rastogi as she added that “if the two cavities are placed wide apart in pelvis then it is difficult to do surgery however if they are close enough it can be done.”
📣 For more lifestyle news, follow us on Instagram | Twitter | Facebook and don’t miss out on the latest updates!