Identical Twin Sisters Give Birth to Sons on the Same Day at the Same Hospital
A little over 9 months ago, twin sisters Jalynne April Crawford and Janelle Ann Leopoldo’s greatest dream came true — they found out they were both pregnant with baby boys.
“When I got the text my face lit up,” Jalynne, 30, tells PEOPLE about the moment she found out her sister was expecting.
Jalynne had just found out she was pregnant just four days before. “I got chills in my arm and then seconds later she called and we were both like ‘Thank you, thank you God.”
“It’s making me tear up right now,” Jalynne continued. “I was like ‘this is God’s way of answering our prayers.'”
While the big news was certainly life-changing, things for Jalynne and Janelle leading up to that very moment were nothing short of challenging.
Jalynne revealed Janelle, 30, struggled with fertility issues, was diagnosed with polycystic ovarian syndrome — a hormonal disorder causing enlarged ovaries with small cysts on the outer edges — and had an ectopic pregnancy. Jalynne meanwhile, suffered two miscarriages.
As the pair both struggled with infertility, tragedy rocked the family when the twins’ sister Jennifer Pippin died last year.
Despite their struggles and grief, the twins never gave up hope and continued to pray that they would someday get pregnant together.
When their prayers were finally answered, Jalynne and Janelle, who live in different parts of the country, hit another roadblock — their parents could not be at two places despite being present for every one of their grandchildren’s births.
Jalynne lives in Arizona with her husband Brandon Michael Crawford, who plays for the San Francisco Giants. Janelle lives in California with her husband Jason Sergio Leopoldo. The couples first met at UCLA in 2005 where they were all student-athletes.
“We knew we wanted to have it on the same date so our parents could be there,” Jalynne continued.
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That’s when Jalynne approached her doctor and asked if it was possible for her and her sister to deliver on the same day.
“He said it was fine, they were the same gestational age and due within a week of one another,” Jalynne said.
Janelle and her family then packed their things and headed to Arizona six weeks before their due date.
“We both made it to 39 weeks and made it to our scheduled delivery day,” Jalynne explained.
So, on June 18, the sisters, their spouses and their parents all headed to the hospital. Jalynne delivered in the morning and her sister delivered a couple of hours later. Shortly after, the sisters were moved to recovery rooms on the same floor in rooms side-by-side.
“Everyone always asks how we decided who got to go first,” Jalynne tells PEOPLE. “Well, I was born first and got pregnant first. Plus my husband only gets three days of paternity leave.”
“We’re going to remember this for the rest of our lives,” Jalynne says.
Jalynne welcomed son Bryson Ryder and Janelle gave birth to a baby boy named Jace Alan.
The 3-month-olds are “best friends already.”
Now that the twins were able to experience pregnancy together, Jalynne — who has four children — feels her family is “complete.” “I’m officially done.”
However, she can’t say the same for Janelle. “I know she and her husband want four kids as well, so they’re not done,” Jalynne laughed.
