Baby born on Leap Day shares rare birthday with dad

CARMICHAEL, Calif - From the moment she was born on Saturday, baby Camila Peñaloza Rebollar shared a bond unlike any other with her dad.

She was due to be born on March 3, but Camila’s early arrival meant the father-daughter duo would share the rarest of birthdays: Feb. 29.

"I prayed to God for my little baby girl and now we are going to share this amazing bond for the rest of our lives. I am just so happy," Camila’s father Ivan Peñaloza told CNN.

It’s rare, but not unheard of, for a child to share a birthday with a parent. You also have a one-in-1,461 chance of being born on a leap day.

But the odds of sharing a birthday with a parent on Feb. 29 are 1 in 2.1 million, according to Mercy San Juan Medical Center where Camila was born.

Baby Camila shares the same Feb. 29 birthday with her dad Ican Rebollar Cortez. (Photo by Mercy San Juan Medical Center)

"We feel so blessed to have our little Camila here and so incredibly shocked at the coincidence that she now shares her leap day birthday with her dad," said Jennifer Rebollar Cortez, Camila’s mom.

Hospital workers dressed the newborn as a leapfrog and marked the special occasion with cake, balloons, the “Happy Birthday” song and a brief photoshoot with her dad.

To keep the calendar synchronized with the solar year, the leap day is observed once every four years as Feb. 29.

This story was reported from Atlanta.