Leap Day Kismet: Siblings Born 4 Years, Minutes Apart

CLINTON TOWNSHIP, MI – Evelyn Joy Croff was 10 days overdue, but made her appearance on Leap Day.

Did she want to share a birthday — albeit one lands on the calendar only once every four years — with her older sister, Eliana Adaya?

Who knows. But the girls were born four years and a few minutes apart — Eliana Adaya at 3:33 a.m. on Leap Day 2012 at Henry Ford West Bloomfield Hospital, and Evelyn Joy at 3:06 a.m. at Henry Ford Macomb Hospital in Clinton Township.

Mom Melissa Croff said she and the girls’ dad, Chad, feel like they won the baby lottery.

Mom also thinks God has a great sense of humor, she said in an interview with the hospital’s public relations department.

The birth of Evelyn Joy on her big sister’s birthday was kismet. The Columbus, MI, couple didn’t want to have to induce labor, and they didn’t.

The littlest Croff was delivered by Maureen Heinz, a nurse midwife at Henry Ford Macomb Hospital.

“I haven’t ever delivered a baby on the same date as an older sibling; it’s quite the miracle,” Heinz said in a statement. “It’s not something they tried or planned to do, and she wasn’t induced. It was all by chance.”

Chad Croff said that once his wife’s Feb. 19 due date passed, friends speculated that the siblings might share a Leap Day birthday. He figured that was “probably impossible.”

But on Sunday when they were in church, Melissa Croff began praying for labor to start. She said that during the pastor’s sermon, her prayer was answered and she began having contractions.

Labor was quick, and Evelyn Joy made her appearance early the next morning.

When Leap Year 2020 rolls around, the Croffs say they’ll have a big party to celebrate. On other years, they’ll let the girls choose a date for their “birthday.”

What Are the Odds?

The odds of being born on Leap Day are roughly one in 1,461. It’s estimated that only about 5 million of the 7 billion people in the world, or around .07 percent of the total population, have Feb. 29 birthdays.

It’s rare, but not that rare. The odds of being struck by lightning once in your lifetime are about one in 3,000, and the odds of becoming president of the United States are one in 10,000,000.

The record for the most siblings born on the same day is held by U.S. citizens Carolyn and Ralph Cummins, whose four daughters and one son were all born on Feb. 20. The odds of that happening are one in 17,797,577,730, according to Guinness World Records.

» Photo via Henry Ford Macomb Hospital