Most premature twins ever celebrate 4th birthday after doctors said they wouldn't survive
The world’s most premature twins are today celebrating their fourth birthdays after doctors predicted they wouldn’t survive their births.
Adiah Laelynn and Adrial Luka Nadarajah (Canada) are their parents’ little miracles and the absolute best of friends.
They were born on 4 March 2022 at the Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto, Canada at a gestational age of 22 weeks – a whole 126 days early.
Collectively, they weighed just 750 g (26.45 oz), meaning they also earned the record for lightest birth – twins.
Fast forward four years and those tiny, fragile babies who had to fight every day to survive are thriving and looking forward to starting school side by side.
“We love being twins,” they said in unison when asked what their favourite thing about it is.
The twins said they know they have a world record and that it makes them special.
And that’s because their proud parents Kevin and Shakina have made sure they know just how amazing they are.
Shakina recounted how when she went into labour, she and Kevin were told to prepare for the worst.
The couple were told nothing but comfort care could be provided if the twins were born before the 22-week mark.
Adiah and Adrial aged one
Thankfully, Shakina made it past the threshold and the twins qualified for care. But they were far from being out of the woods.
The babies were so tiny that they could each fit into the palm of their mum’s hand, their skin wasn’t even fully formed yet and their eyes were fused shut.
“But I remember looking at them and thinking they looked absolutely perfect and they were so beautiful,” Shakina said.
“The twins were in the NICU [Neonatal Intensive Care Unit] for six months and they were in critical condition for many months.
They faced major conditions, diagnoses and diseases such as bleeding in their brains, chronic lung disease, pulmonary hypertension, an inflammation of the bowel, and they almost lost their lives many times.
“But despite all the major health challenges that they faced, they fought very hard to overcome each challenge and they graduated from their NICU stay six months later.”
She added: “Their health over the past four years has been overall really good. They’ve been in the hospital a few times for minor sicknesses but they are doing really well in hitting all of their physical, mental, cognitive, social and emotional milestones.
“We’re thankful overall that the children have defied all of the odds and they’re healthy, happy children.”
Read about more amazing people like this in our Human Body section.
The twins have each grown into their own little personalities, and while they love each other dearly and spend much of their time together, they both have their own individual interests too.
Kevin said: “Their personalities are really interesting, they are two unique people.
“Adiah is a very cheerful little girl who loves adventures, she loves speaking out loudly and being the centre of attention in the room. She’s very musical, she’s taken up an interest in playing the guitar and piano and she likes singing. She has some favourite songs and she also enjoys pretend stories and playing with her Barbies.
“Adrial, on the other hand, is a very curious and studious boy. He likes his books, he likes reading stories, he loves visiting the library to borrow books every week, and he enjoys one-on-one moments where he’s able to go out with mom and dad and enjoy eating a meal.”
Shakina added: “The twins are best friends. Most of the time they get along with each other, except for when it comes to sharing their favourite toys – that they are still struggling with.
But they really love each other, there’s never a moment when they’re not together, they do everything together.
“They share the same room, they have their meals together, go to daycare together, they’ll be in the same class at school soon.”
Adiah and Adrial are learning how to be the best brother and sister to each other, but also to their baby sister, one-year-old Alissa.
And as their fourth birthday approaches, Kevin says this is an opportunity to “celebrate the miracles they are and celebrate the life and progress and journey they’ve been through so far”.
Shakina added: “It’s been really emotional watching the twins grow from those tiny, fragile babies in their incubators in the NICU to the loud, cheerful, happy four-year-olds they are today.
“Sometimes it’s easy to forget those early days and how difficult it was watching them almost lose their lives because we get so caught up in the details of day-to-day parenting.
“Our challenges are very different these days – it’s getting them to eat their broccoli, getting them to tidy up.
“We have to constantly remind ourselves where the twins started. We do that by looking at photos and videos of them. Not just between the two of us, but also showing the twins to tell them their story and reminding ourselves how hard they had to fight and how hard we had to fight to keep them alive as well.”
Kevin says the twins’ records are meaningful for many reasons, but mainly it’s about the impact they’ve had on the world.
After being born just on the cusp of that 22-week rule, the twins prove just how strong and resilient premature babies can be.
The parents have said all along that they hope their records are broken one day. They want to see medical science advance to the point that children born even more premature than Adrial and Adiah can have the chance to survive.
The couple say they’ve been contacted by parents of premature babies from around the world to ask for advice, and they’ve been told that their story has given others hope when they’ve found themselves in hopeless situations.
Kevin and Shakina have spent the last few years sharing their twins’ story and working closely with doctors and other medical professionals to help advance the chances of premature babies.
They hope that one day soon, the twins will take over, helping others by being open about all they’ve overcome.
“The twins, they tell us that they want to be doctors when they grow up,” Shakina said.
The whole family together
“Whether or not they end up in the medical profession, we do hope they will contribute back to healthcare settings by either telling their stories or being actively involved in the medical field.
“We do hope that one day it will not be us sharing their stories. Maybe in a couple of years the twins will be able to sit here and tell their story and spread hope to the world.”