Twin sisters give birth on the same day
Identical twins Gillianne Gogas and Nicole Patrikakos have lived their whole lives in synchronicity after being born together 36 years ago.
Now, the women have welcomed their own children into the world on the same day, in the same hospital.
The extraordinary coincidence happened in Melborune’s Epworth Freemasons hospital, with both Nicole and Gillianne welcoming healthy baby boys just hours apart.
Gillianne said they both felt a mix of emotions over their matching maternity experience.
"The timing, you just can't plan something like that. So yeah, disbelief, shock, excitement, all of those emotions," Gillianne told 9News.
Gillianne's son, Alexander, arrived on August 22 at 1:20pm, followed by sister Nicole's baby boy, William, a mere five hours later.
Nicole said the sisters had the same due date, so the duplicate deliveries were no surprise to the identical twin sisters.
"(We were) very close growing up. We have always done everything together so this is just another example of that," she said.
Gillianne said they had nine months of pregnancy to process their "tandem" due date.
"And yet it is still quite unbelievable," she said.
However, the synchronicity didn’t end there, as the babies were both delivered by the same obstetrician, Dr Joseph Sgroi, who said the births were a first for him during his time as a doctor.
"It is not something that is common. It is not commonplace for even sisters to give birth on the same time or on the same day," he said.
The newborns even had the same birth weight, a healthy 3.5 kilograms.
"Oh yes that came as another surprise," Gillianne said.
"Exactly the same," Nicole said.
Dr Sgroi said the babies would biologically be closer to brothers than cousins, with Nicole and Gillianne hoping they would share the same special relationship as their mothers.
"Hopefully they will be as close as we are because it really is a special bond that we have," Nicole said.
Image credits: Nine News