Identical twins in Washington could have birthdays 4 months apart

KIRKLAND, Wash. (KABC) -- Looks like a pair of identical twins in Washington will not be sharing the same birthday.

Baby link, born at just 1 pound 2 ounces, is 23 weeks into his mother's pregnancy and on the cusp of survival.

Link is an identical twin, and doctors originally expected to have both him and his brother Logan together in the NICU. But instead, Logan is still in his mother's womb.

"Logan's good so he's growing a lot. He's just kicking, he's got fluid, he can move around. He was stuck before," his mother, Holli Gorveatt, said.

Dr. Martin Walker delivered Link, but first he fixed a complication called "twin, twin transfusion syndrome," which means the babies shared a single placenta.

"So you have a situation where one baby becomes anemic and weak from blood loss and the other baby becomes overstuffed with blood, bloated and goes into heart failure," he said.

Walker was able to perform surgery in utero and separate the babies' blood vessels. It wound up saving both of their lives - twice.

First, it solved the blood flow problem. Then, when Holli went into early labor a week later, the separation of the babies meant Link could be born and Logan could remain in the womb.

But Link is so fragile that his parents cannot hold him. But they can be with him, celebrating his September birth while they wait for his twin brother's birth in January.

If the boys are born four months apart, it might be the longest amount of time recorded between the births of twins. The delayed delivery is also quite rare since the boys are identical twins.