No matter whether a set of twins is identical or fraternal, these bonded siblings often share similar characteristics such as physical appearance, mannerisms, and, most importantly, a shared birthday.
These stories, however, challenge the traditional tales of twinhood and result in separate birthdays, allowing each twin to have a special day all to themselves to celebrate not only their birthday but reflect on the incredibly unique story of how they came into the world.
Here are ten sets of twins who defied the conventional birth timelines, being born in different months, years, and, surprisingly, even different decades.
Related: 10 Child Prodigies Youâve Probably Never Heard of
10 Joslyn and Jaxon Tello
Couple Dawn Gilliam and Jason Tello of Pendleton, Indiana, were expecting a set of twins due to be born on February 18, 2020. While they talked about how great it would be if the twins were born on different dates, the couple got a much rarer surpriseânot only were their twins born on different days, but in different months, years, and even decades.
On December 31, 2019, Gilliam went to Ascension St. Vincent Hospital, concerned about a lack of fetal movement. However, there was no cause for concern because at 11:37 pm, the first twinâJoslyn Grace Guilen Telloâwas born, weighing 4 pounds 11 ounces (2.1 kg) and measuring 17.9 inches (45 cm) long, making her the last 2019 baby delivered at the hospital.
Exactly 30 minutes later, at 12:07 am on January 1, 2020, her brotherâJaxon Dewayne Mills Telloâwas born, weighing 4 pounds 4 ounces (1.9 kg) and measuring 18.1 inches (45.9 cm) long. This made him the hospitalâs first baby to be delivered in the new year.[1]
9 Olive and Ashton Perry
Heather and Chris Perry of Lake Park, Minnesota, werenât expecting their twins to be born until May 2021. However, in February 2021, 25 weeks into her pregnancy, Heatherâs water broke while she was working in Detroit Lakes.
Heather was hospitalized, and although it wasnât until weeks later that labor began, once it did, everything seemed to progress quickly. In fact, baby girl Olive was born on February 24, 2021, weighing 2 pounds 4 ounces (1.02 kg), and her birth was so quick that her father, Chris, actually missed it.
Baby boy Ashton, on the other hand, seemed to be âenjoying his extra space to sprawl outâ and didnât seem quite as eager to enter the world, so the doctors decided to simply wait for his arrival. Little did they know, they wouldnât be waiting minutes or hours, but rather, days before he would be ready.
At one point, Heather even went into the NICU to hold Olive, all while still pregnant with her twin, Ashton.
Finally, five days later, on March 1, 2021, Ashton made his debut into the world, meaning that the twins will not only celebrate their birthdays on different days but in entirely different months.[2]
8 Katie and Amy Jones-Elliot
Thirty-four-year-old Maria Jones-Elliot and her husband, Chris, of Glenmore, County Kilkenny, Ireland, were thrilled to learn they were expecting twin girls at their seven-week scan. Although Mariaâs due date was September 21, 2013, at only 23 weeks and five days pregnant, she began feeling extreme pressure on her abdomen and was instructed by her doctor to go to the hospital.
Maria was in labor for two days, and on June 1, 2013, the first twin, Amy, was delivered, weighing just 1 pound 3 ounces (0.5 kg). However, instead of the second twin, Katie, being born straight after her sister, Mariaâs contractions stopped, and despite efforts to induce her the following day, Katie remained in the womb.
From there, the couple decided to wait and let nature take its course, but Maria described the experience as âachingly bittersweet.â She stated, âAmy was fighting for her life in an incubator, and Katie was struggling to survive in my womb.â
Miraculously, day by day, Katie continued to grow stronger in the womb, and at 36 weeks and three days, Maria was induced again. Katie was born on August 27, 2013, weighing 5 pounds 10 ounces (2.5 kg), 87 days after her sister.[3]
9 Micah and Madelyn Miller
Just a few months after Kristen and Ian Miller of Jefferson City, Tennessee, got married, the 27-year-olds found out they were expecting twinsâone boy and one girlâdue in June of 2016.
Kristen initially had no complications with her pregnancy, but in February of 2016, at just 22 weeks pregnant, she began feeling contractions during a church service. By the time she got home, her water had broken.
Using a variety of treatments and drugs, doctors managed to stop Kristenâs labor in hopes of her making it to the 24-week markâa time at which the babies would be able to survive outside the uterus with the right support.
On February 14, 2016, at 24 weeks and one day, baby Micah was born, weighing just over one pound (0.4 kg). While Micahâs twin sister, Madelyn, was expected to be born within an hour after her brother, Dr. Kristina Shumard, a maternal fetal medicine obstetrician at UT Medical Center, knew that the longer Madelyn stayed in Kristenâs womb, the healthier she would be.
Dr. Shumard was determined to delay Madelynâs birth as long as possible. Given that the fraternal twins had separate sacs and placentas, the Millers were presented with the option of delayed interval deliveryâa rare technique in a multiple gestation pregnancy in which the first fetus is delivered without prompting the delivery of the remaining fetuses.
Kristen was placed on strict bed rest and wasnât even allowed to hold Micah for three weeks. However, 38 days after the birth of her brother, Madelyn made her debut into the world.[4]
6 Link and Logan Gorveatt
Holli Gorveattâs twin boysâLink and Loganâdeveloped twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome in utero, a rare, serious condition affecting identical twins or other multiples.
When identical twins share a placenta, abnormal blood connections form, causing blood to flow unevenly between the fetuses. Therefore, one twinâthe donor twinâgives away more blood than it receives in return, resulting in the risk of dehydration, malnourishment, and organ failure. On the other hand, the recipient twin receives too much blood and is susceptible to high blood pressure, in addition to other cardiac complications.
Thankfully, in September 2015, Dr. Martin Walker at the EvergreenHealth Medical Center in Kirkland, Washington, was able to correct the twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome in utero by separating the twinsâ blood vessels, which would ultimately save the babiesâ livesâtwice.
Holli went into early labor one week after the procedure due to the weight of the twins on her cervix, and doctors had no choice but to deliver baby Link. He was born on September 29, 2015, at just 23 weeks, weighing 1 pound 2 ounces (0.5 kg). Unfortunately, he was so fragile, that neither Holli nor Linkâs father, Nick, were able to hold him and he was placed in an incubator.
Even with Link being born so prematurely, the separation of the twins meant that Logan could stay in the womb, giving him a better chance at normal development. Doctors initially hoped Logan would remain in the womb until his full-term due date of January 26, 2016, but after medical officials began to worry that Holli had developed an infection, Logan had to be delivered early.
Eighteen days after Linkâs birth, Logan entered the world at 1:53 am, weighing 1 pound 10 ounces (0.74 kg), meaning the twin boys will have different birthday monthsâone in September and one in October.[5]
5 Carl and David Cowan
In January 2014, Elene Cowan and her husband, David, flew home to the Kansas City, Missouri, area from Saudi Arabia, where David works as an emergency room doctor. Elene was 23 weeks pregnant with twin boysâCarl and David.
However, within hours of their plane landing, the couple ended up at Research Medical Center because Elene didnât feel right and wondered if she was dehydrated. At the hospital, doctors found that Carlâs amniotic sac was entering the birth canal, Eleneâs cervix was starting to dilate, and she was having contractions.
Doctors fought to stop the labor using medication and other treatments but were ultimately unsuccessful. Approximately one week later, 24 weeks and one day into her pregnancy, Elene gave birth to baby Carl on January 20, 2014, who weighed just 1 pound 6 ounces (0.62 kg).
After Carlâs birth, Eleneâs obstetrician, Dr. Howard Schwartz, stated he believed that Elene suffered from an incompetent cervix, a condition where weak cervical tissue causes or plays a part in premature birth or the loss of a healthy pregnancy. Therefore, in hopes of buying time for baby David, Eleneâs cervix was literally tied shut with a stitch. Elene was given antibiotics as well as medication to stall labor and was put on complete bed rest.
By late March 2014, Eleneâs labor became unstoppable again. Baby David was born on March 28, 2014, weighing 2 pounds 14 ounces (1.3 kg) and entering the world 39 days after his brother.
The twin boys stayed in the neonatal intensive care unit and were finally able to go home in May 2014, approximately one week after their original due date of May 11, 2014.[6]
9 Rebekah Faith and Charlotte Grace Smith
After two years of infertility, several rounds of basic fertility treatment, in vitro fertilization, and a single embryo transfer, Courtney and Ken Smith of Stanhope, New Jersey, were blessed to not only become pregnant but to expect a set of identical twin girls.
Initially, Courtneyâs pregnancy was uncomplicated, but around 32 weeks, she started to develop symptoms of preeclampsia. This serious condition can happen after the 20th week of pregnancy, which causes high blood pressure as well as organs, like the kidneys and liver, not to function properly.
At 36 weeks, Courtneyâs obstetrician decided to induce her labor. At 11:49 pm on March 31, 2021, Rebekah Faith was born, weighing 4 pounds 9 ounces (2.06 kg). At 12:06 am on April 1, 2021, Charlotte Grace was born, weighing six pounds (2.7 kg), meaning that despite the 17-minute time difference in their arrival, the sisters would have different birth months.
Courtney stated, âRebekah is named after the biblical character Rebekah, who went through infertility and ended up having twins, so we decided to name the firstborn Rebekah to symbolize the end of our battle with infertility.â[7]
3 Evan and Brielle Gullickson
In March 2014, Alyssa and Scott Gullickson of St. Joseph, Minnesota, found out they were pregnant. At the 20-week ultrasound, the couple learned they were having twins, due in November.
However, on July 17, 2014, Alyssaâs water broke, and on July 19, 2014, the first twinâEvanâwas born at 23 weeks and five days, weighing just 1 pound 7 ounces (0.65 kg). Unfortunately, doctors discovered a hole in Evanâs intestines, so the family of just three was sent to the Twin Cities (Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota) in order for Evan to undergo surgery. At the same time, his sisterâBrielleâwas still unborn.
Alyssa was later placed on bed rest and decided to try and keep from delivering Brielle for as long as possible. Brielle was also monitored to ensure she didnât go into distress. However, at 26 weeks into the pregnancy, Alyssa began having contractions and also spiked a fever, so doctors induced her labor. On August 5, 2014, Brielle was born 17 days after her brother, so not only do the twins have birthdays in different months, but they were born in different hospitals and in different counties.
The couple stayed at the Ronald McDonald House while the twins were being cared for in the neonatal intensive care unit at the University of Minnesota Masonic Childrenâs Hospital. Exactly four months after Evanâs birth, the twins were finally able to go home.[8]
2 Annie Jo and Effie Rose Scott
While Kali and Cliff Scott of Denton, Texas, were expecting a set of twin girls, they werenât expecting the arrival of their daughters until January 11, 2023, the date Kali had been scheduled for a cesarean section.
However, after going to a check-up on December 29, 2022, Kali had to be checked in early to the Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital so doctors could monitor her blood pressure. Late in the night on December 31, 2022, doctors decided to move forward with the C-section.
At 11:55 pm on December 31, 2022, Annie Jo was the first twin born but was also the last baby of the year born at the hospital. Effie Rose then came into the world at 12:01 am on January 1, 2023, making her the first baby born at the hospital in 2023.
Despite being born a mere six minutes apart, the twin sisters will certainly have a unique birth story to tellâbeing born on different days, in different months, and in different years.[9]
1 Charlie and Layla Burgess
Thirty-four-year-old Hayley Burgess of Wirral, England, was expecting a set of twinsâCharlie and Layla. However, the twins decided to come into the world nine weeks early. By 9:10 pm on September 30, 2022, Hayley found herself at the Wirral Women and Childrenâs Hospital.
Charlie wasted no time in making his debut and was born at 11:30 pm on September 30, 2022. His sister Layla, however, was born just after midnight, making her birthday on October 1, an entirely different month.[10]
