Every week there is an extraordinary birth or baby story to report, but this latest one from Vietnam is nothing short of incredible.
Doctors have this week confirmed that a set of two-year-old twins living in the country’s Hoa Binh province are bi-paternal – they have the same mother, but different fathers.
This is said to arise where two eggs are fertilised by the sperm of two different men, where sex has twice occurred within a short period.
According to local news reports, the father requested genetic testing after noticing major differences between the boys’ physical appearances. Testing was then carried out at the Ha Noi Centre for Genetic Analysis and Technology, with the results confirming that the children had two different fathers.
While the parents initially believed that they had been given the wrong child, the DNA testing proved that this was not a possibility.
While few further details have been released due to a confidentiality agreement with the parents, the president of the Genetic Association of Vietnam told the AFP that this is a truly rare case.
“Our Centre for Genetic Analysis and Technology lab has tested and found a pair of bi-paternal twins. This is rare not only for Vietnam, but for the world,” said Le Dinh Luong.
