OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (WDAF) – A family in Lawrence, Kansas hit the genetic jackpot, and now this rare set of twins is going home.

Wyleigh and Winnie McLaughlin were born on Nov. 30 to parents Alijah and Justin McLaughlin at Overland Park Regional Medical Center in Overland Park, southwest of Kansas City.

The girls are a rare set of monoamniotic twins, commonly called ‘MoMo’ twins.

MoMo twins make up roughly 1 percent of identical twins and less than 0.1 percent of all pregnancies, according to the Columbia University Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology.


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“It means they share a placenta and share [an amniotic] sac and that is a very rare type of pregnancy,” said Dr. Thomas Lancaster, a neonatologist at Overland Park Regional Medical Center.

Lancaster cared for Alijah throughout much of her pregnancy after she found out she was having MoMo twins, which put the pregnancy in a high-risk category. MoMo twins are at an increased risk of severe complications, such as umbilical cord entanglement or preterm birth, Texas Children’s Hospital explains.

“Once she got to about 30 weeks there was a concern that maybe one of the cords was getting a knot in it and so that’s when she decided to have her babies a little more than two months ago,” he said.

The twin girls went to the NICU for additional care. Winnie was released on Jan. 14 and Wyleigh was expected to go home a few days later.

Alijah says the family is looking forward to all being together and for the girls to meet their big brother, Weston.

“Getting them back together, it was a big relief,” she told Nexstar’s WDAF. “Just to see them like this, they probably missed each other.”

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