Twins Born 87 Days Apart: 'Truly Extraordinary,' Doctor Says (VIDEO)
A set of baby girl twins have been born 87 days apart in Dublin, Ireland in what medical professionals are calling a "truly extraordinary" occurrence that may have set a new world record.
Amy and Katie Jones-Elliot were born 87 days apart, after Amy was delivered at 23 weeks on June 1, but Katie was not delivered until August 27. The baby girls' story of separate delivery could set a new Guinness World Record for the longest time between the birth of twins.
"The doctors told me there was very little hope of them surviving as they were so premature," Maria Jones-Elliott, the girls' mother, told the Daily Mirror. "Amy was fighting for her life in an incubator and Katie was struggling to survive in my womb. After hours, Chris and I said, 'Enough is enough. Let nature take its course.' It was the hardest three months of our lives."
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"Most people haven't heard of this," Dr. Eddie O'Donnell, who was one of those who helped deliver the twins, told the Belfast Telegraph. "You can end up losing a twin; it could be stillborn."
"For a baby delivered at 23 weeks to survive is a huge achievement from everyone's point of view. For a 23-week twin to survive is even bigger because twins often behave more prematurely than singleton babies. That really is right at the absolute border of viability," Dr. Sam Coulter Smith told the Irish Times.
"This was a very different situation where twin one was very premature and you would prefer to hold on to the second twin if you could. It would be very unusual to be able to do that. We would have had twins whose delivery would have been separated by a number of days and in some cases a number of weeks – but never that. Eighty-seven days? That's nearly three months. It is very rare," Dr. Smith continued.
"I call the girls our little miracles," Maria told the Mirror. "As I held Amy for the first time, I stroked my bump and prayed to God. I just wanted my girls to be together and safe and well."
Watch a video of the family HERE:
