Adiah (left) and Adrial Nadarajah are the world’s most premature and lightest twins to ever be born. Photos: Kevin and Shakina Nadarajah
Malaysian Shakina Rajendram, 35, who has given birth to the World’s Most Premature and Lightest Twins (according to the Guinness World Records) hopes that her experience, and the acknowledgement, will augur well for other parents of premature babies.
“Receiving not one but two Guinness World Records has come as a complete surprise to us. We’re very grateful for these records, but beyond that, we’re excited to be able to use this platform to advocate for other premature babies, especially 22-week or less, to be considered viable and for more hospitals to save them,” says Shakina.
Shakina and her Canadian husband are proud parents to Adiah Laelynn and Adrial Luka Nadarajah, who were born on March 4, 2022 – 126 days or over four months early. Adiah, born 23 minutes before her brother, was 330g, and Adrial, 420g, making them the lightest twins to ever be born at a combined weight of 750g.
They are officially the world’s most premature and lightest twins to ever be born and celebrated their first birthday this month.
The twins broke the previous world record of 125 days set by Keeley and Kambry Ewoldt, who were born on Nov 24, 2018, in the United States.
Adiah and Adrial were born 126 days or over four months early.“Since the news about the records broke, many parents, specifically mothers, from around the world have reached out to us to share stories of their own premature babies, and it’s been so special to share our journey with them to encourage them,” says Seremban-born Shakina.
The former English teacher at SJKT Sungai Renggam, Shah Alam, is married to Canadian Kevin Nadarajah, 37, who works a manager in liquidity risk and is also a musician with his own YouTube video.
In fact, they met through YouTube, the couple reveals.
“I came across Kevin’s music on YouTube back in 2007 and fell in love with him. A year later, I flew to Canada and we met for the first time,” says Shakina.
“We were in a long-distance relationship for years and could only see each other once a year. I finally got my Canadian Permanent Resident visa in 2014 and moved to Canada to pursue my PhD at the University of Toronto, and we also got married that year,” reveals Shakina who is now working as an assistant professor at University of Toronto.
Sudden shock
“We actually had no idea that our babies were going to be born so prematurely. I had gone for my 20-week ultrasound two weeks before, and everything was fine. The babies were growing well, and there were no complications or concerns about the pregnancy,” says Shakina.
“So, it came as a complete shock to us when I went into labour at 21 weeks and five days into the pregnancy. We were afraid that we would lose the babies as the doctors told us that they would not survive if they were born that early,” she says.
Despite being dissuaded by doctors not to resuscitate their babies due to the risks involved, Kevin and Shakina refused to give up and focused instead on their babies’ progress.According to the couple, their twins entered the world at a gestational age of exactly 22 weeks. If they’d been born even an hour earlier, no attempt would have been made to save their lives by the doctors.
“When I went into labour, the babies were denied all life-sustaining measures at the hospital I was admitted to and almost left to die,” reveals Shakina.
This is her second pregnancy; Shakina lost her first pregnancy just a few months earlier at the same hospital.
The couple were in shock and the only consolation the hospital could offer them was “comfort care”.
“This means that the babies would be placed on me while they slowly passed away. No words could capture the mental anguish and emotional trauma we were going through,” she says.
The couple, who are staunch Christians, say that their faith played a really important role in helping them persevere, stay strong, and not give up hope.
The love, support and prayers of our friends and family from around the world helped us get through the most difficult and darkest moments, say Kevin and Shakina.
Kevin recalls being awake at night, “face streaming with tears, and praying for a sign of hope”.
“Even if there were limitations to what the doctors could do, we were praying for a miracle.
“The love, support and prayers of our friends and family from around the world helped us get through the most difficult and darkest moments. We had to fight very hard for the lives of our babies, but we were never alone in our fight as we were always surrounded by family and friends who helped us stay strong,” says Kevin.
Subsequently, Shakina was transferred to Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto, which specialises in resuscitating 22-week-old babies.
Still, the couple were informed that if the babies were born even a few minutes before 22 weeks, they wouldn’t be resuscitated. In fact, they were also dissuaded from resuscitating the babies even if they did make it to 22 weeks.
“We were told it would be a ‘death sentence’ for them and they would have many disabilities, but we insisted that our babies be given a chance to live,” says Shakina.
The babies were in hospital care for nearly six months, and there were complications including brain bleeding, sepsis and fluid management. They also had very thin and transparent skin. The couple were advised many times to consider withdrawing medical care, but that only strengthened their resolve to save their babies.
While the doctors focused on the risks involved, Kevin and Shakina refused to give up and focused instead on their babies’ progress.Positive vibes only
While the doctors focused on the risks, Shakina and Kevin focused instead on their babies’ progress.
Adiah was discharged after 161 days and Adrial after 168 days, in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).
Despite the many hurdles they had to go through, the twins are doing well, “not just surviving but thriving”, say Shakina and Kevin.
“We never once doubted that our babies would not only survive but thrive. We spent 10-12 hours with them in the NICU every single day for 167 days, and we saw how strong and resilient they were. Our babies went through many major medical challenges, but they overcame each challenge, and this inspired us to keep advocating for them,” says Shakina.
“The twins still have many medical appointments and physiotherapy every week, so life has been very busy for us. But we are looking forward to spending time with our babies and just being a normal family,” she says.
Shakina’s advice to other parents facing a similar situation with their premature births is to “stay strong and never give up hope”.
“Spend as much time as you can with your babies, and speak positive words over them. Your babies can hear you, they know your voice, and they can feel your love. Always advocate for your babies’ needs, as you know your babies the best,” she concludes.
