These twins were born in different years

The twins were born just eighteen minutes apart
Pixabay
Harriet Pavey4 January 2018

A pair of twins in the US were born in different years, despite arriving just minutes apart.

Their mother, Maria Ontiveros, from California, went into labour at 7pm New Year’s Eve. She gave birth to a son in 2017 and his twin sister in 2018.

The first of her twins, Joaquin, arrived at 11.58pm on December 31. The second, Atiana, was born just eighteen minutes later at 12.16am on January 1.

The babies will not share a birthday, birth month, or even a birth year.

Ms Ontiveros was originally due on January 27 and then was scheduled for a caesarean section on January 10. But she went into premature labour just hours before midnight on December 31, giving birth at the Delano Regional Medical Centre.

Her son was born naturally, followed by his twin sister who was delivered by caesarean due to her being slightly breached. Both were born healthy, weighing 5lb 9oz and 4lb 10.8oz respectively.

Ms Ontiveros and her husband Joaquin, both farm labourers, have three other daughters aged between six and 18.

The odds of twins being born in different years are around one in 60,000, according to Louise Firth Campbell and Amram Shapiro, co-authors of The Book of Odds.

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