A Canadian brother and sister born at just 22 weeks have been named the world’s most premature twins.
Adiah and Adrial Nadarajah were born 126 days or 18 weeks prematurely at Mount Sinai hospital in Toronto, Ontario. They had a combined weight of 1.6lbs (750grams).
Doctors said that if they had been born just an hour earlier then they would not have attempted to save the infants.
The children, who are now a year old and back at home in Ontario, were named the world’s most premature twins by Guinness World Records. The parents said that Adrial tends to be thoughtful, while Adiah is babbly and loves to be carried when she is taken on walks.
They overtake the previous record holders, twins born in Iowa back in 2015 who were 125 days early. A full-term pregnancy is usually 40 weeks.
A Canadian brother and sister born at just 22 weeks have been named the world’s most premature twins. Pictured above is Adrial (left), sitting on his father Kevin’s lap, and Adriah (right), sitting on mother Shakina’s lap. The two were born in Toronto, Canada
Pictured above is one of the babies shortly after being born in hospital. Doctors said that if they were born just a few hours earlier life-saving measures would not have been attempted
Mother Shakina Rajendram said that she went into labor at just 21 weeks and five days experiencing contractions, bleeding and extreme pain.
She was rushed to hospital where doctors saw her in minutes but said the babies ‘were not viable’ and had a ‘zero percent chance of survival’.
But after an ultrasound revealed the twins were still ‘very much alive’, had strong heartbeats and were not distressed, the parents pleaded with doctors for help.
They were transferred to Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto, which could handle babies born at just 22 weeks.
Doctors told Mrs Rajendram to ‘hold them in’ until they reached the 22-week threshold — even as she had contractions every few minutes — saying they could not help if they were born earlier.
Shortly after midnight on March 4, 2022, Mrs Rajendram said she felt like her waters had broken.
Adiah was born at 1.22am that day, and weighed 0.72lbs (330grams).
Her brother Adrial followed at 1.45am with a weight of 0.93lbs (420grams).
Babies born at 22 weeks old have an about 28 percent chance of survival, studies show.
Among those born just a week later, this rises to 55 percent.
The youngest baby ever to survive was Curtis Means from Alabama, who was born at 21 weeks and one day.
Immediately after birth, the two were diagnosed with brain bleeds. Adrial’s was more severe at a grade three. Adrial also suffered lung problems, kidney problems and sepsis.
They then spent the next six months in hospital under the watchful eye of doctors before being discharged.
Speaking about the births, Mrs Rajendram said: ‘Amidst all that scenario of being told that the chance of survival is pretty much zero percent, the chance of disability and that to significant disability is really high, we were just clinging to our hope and faith, trusting in God.’
She added: ‘We watched the babies almost die before our eyes many times.
It was also her second pregnancy, after she lost her first child a few months earlier.
Immediately after birth, the two infants were diagnosed with brain bleeds. Adrial (left) also suffered from lung problems, kidney problems and sepsis
The two infants are pictured above at home. They were allowed home after spending about six months in hospital
But now the siblings are ‘doing great’.
Describing their babies, they said Adiah is a cheerful, fun girl, who likes to laugh and babble and be held while on walks.
Adrial is more thoughtful, they said, and likes to look at things and stare intently at people as though he is trying to learn who they are.
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