Father and son both born on Leap Day celebrate their rare birthday

Feb. 29 comes around once every four years, and now Fred Shekoufeh is turning 15, while his son Eric is finally 5.
There is a 1 in 1,461 chance of having a leap year birthday, ABC News reports, and when Eric was born on Feb. 29, 1996, Fred's now-ex-wife told him the baby was his birthday present. "I realize how valuable it is to be born on this day," Fred told ABC News. "Mentally, I'm one of those guys who consider themselves young."
Eric, a student at UCLA, makes the most of his birthday situation during non-leap years, celebrating on both Feb. 28 and March 1, while Fred sticks to just Feb. 28. Eric said people often crack jokes when they find out he was born on Feb. 29, and "it's really cool when I actually do have a birthday. There's way less confusion."
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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
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