The extremely rare case arose when the woman, identified only as T.M, applied for public assistance and named her current boyfriend as the father of the twins.
But during her testimony, it emerged that T.M. had slept with a different man the week before she believed the twins were conceived.
The revelation prompted a paternity test, which showed that each man was the father of one of the twins, who are now toddlers.
The original partner, identified as A.S. was ordered to pay child support to one of the children. He must now pay $28 (£18) each week for his daughter.
This unlikely process, known as heteropaternal superfecundation, occurs when a woman has sexual intercourse with two men during the same menstrual cycle, having released two eggs. One egg is then fertilized by each man.
Amazingly, it is also possible for a woman to give birth to twins who have been conceived weeks or even months apart, if she continues to ovulate even after she has become pregnant, in a process called superfetation.
It is claimed that superfetation is common in some species of animals, but is extremely rare in humans.
In 2009, Todd and Julia Grovenburg of Fort Smith, Arkansas, conceived an additional child while already pregnant with a baby conceived two and a half weeks earlier.
Both healthy babies were delivered through Caesarean section on December 2, 2009, when Julia, 33, became one of only 11 women ever reported to conceive while already pregnant.
“It’s common knowledge and written down in medical books that you can’t get pregnant while already pregnant," Julia said.
“But somehow, after years of trying to conceive, I became the exception to the rule – getting pregnant twice in two weeks.”
The ruling, made by Passaic County Judge Sohail Mohammad, is thought to be one of only a handful of similar cases across the United States.
Culled fromUK independent
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