Twins Born in Different Years

New Years Babies Take the Cake

双胞胎出生在不同的年份
How can twins be born in different years?. © Pamela Prindle Fierro About.com 2015

It happens every January, like clockwork. A rash of media coverage marveling about the birth of twins. While twin births are always incredible, they’re not exactly newsworthy, given that there are over 120,000 twin births every year, or aboutthree percent of all births.What makes these births remarkable every January is that these twins manage to arrive at a point in time which gives them not onlydifferent birthdaysbut different birth years.

For example, in 2015/2016, a set of boy/girl twins were born inSan Diego.一个叫Jaclyn女婴出生在11:59分December 31, 2015, while her brother Luis arrived at 12:02 a.m. on January 1, 2016.

In 2013/2014 inWashington, D.C., another set of boy/girl twins straddled the new year. Lorraine Yaleni Begazo arrived at 11:58 p.m. on Tuesday, December 31, 2013, while her brother, Brandon Ferdinando Begazo made an appearance at 12:01 a.m. on Wednesday, January 1, 2014. (Ladies first, in both cases!)

An interval of several minutes between births isn’t uncommon for twins, especially if they are delivered viacesarean section, but because they straddle the midnight hour, they gain notoriety.

InOntario, Canada, twin sisters Gabriela and Sophia Salgueiro managed a similar feat. Gabriela led at 11:52 p.m. on December 31st, followed by her sister, who barely beat the New Year deadline, arriving only 38 seconds past midnight on January 1, 2014. Their birth was a bit of a surprise since the girls’due datewasn’t until January 19th. Their mom achieved a bit of notoriety at Mississauga Credit Valley Hospital by delivering both the last baby born in 2013 and the first baby born in 2014.

Abilene, Texasgreeted yet another set of twins straddling the midnight hour. Hannah Grace and Danielle Lynn Reed were delivered by C-section on either side of the New Year. Their mom promises that they’ll each have their ownbirthday parties.

Of course, this phenomenon isn’t unique to 2013 or 2016. It happens every year. And while remarkable and special, some other twins can make an even greater claim to fame—being born in different millennia. TheWallman twinsfrom Indianapolis, Indiana were born at 11:59 p.m. Friday, December 31, 1999, and 12:01 a.m. on Saturday, January 1, 2000. Additional millennial-straddling twins were reported in Oklahoma, Virginia, Washington, and Germany. That’s something we won’t see again for another one thousand years.

2 Sources
Verywell Family uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
  1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).Multiple Births.

  2. Melka S, Miller J, Fox NS.Labor and Delivery of Twin Pregnancies.Obstetrics and Gynecology Clinics of North America. 2017;44(4):645-654. doi:10.1016/j.ogc.2017.08.004

ByPamela Prindle Fierro
Pamela Prindle Fierro is the author of several parenting books and the mother of twin girls.