Canadian twins celebrate with world record on their first birthday

After being given a zero per cent chance of survival at birth, Canadian premature twins Adiah Laelynn and Adrial Luka Nadarajah continued to defy the odds on their first birthday as they were recognized with a Guinness World Record.

The girl and boy were born on March 4, 2022 in Ontario, at a gestational age of 22 weeks. Born 126 days early, they broke the previous record for the earliest birth for a pair of twins, which was 125 days. Additionally, they were the lightest twins at birth since Adiah weighed in at 330 grams while Adrial weighed 420 grams.

“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,” their mother, Shakina Rajendram, told the Guinness World Records (GWR).

The following day, Rajendram was transferred to Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto, where she was brought to a specialist neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). However, GWR says the hospital warned her of the twins’ low survival chances if they were born before 22 weeks. At the time, she was 21 weeks and six days into her pregnancy.

The following day, just 15 minutes after midnight, Rajendram's water broke and soon after the twins came at exactly 22 weeks. While their birth ended in success, the twins weren't completely out of danger yet. They spent nearly six months in hospital where they experienced many complications including brain bleeding, infections that led to sepsis, and they both had extremely fragile and thin skin.

Finally, after 161 days in the NICU, Adiah was cleared to leave the hospital, followed by her brother a week later. Adrial has since been re-admitted  to the hospital twice with infections and respiratory issues, but Rajendram told GWR he's now doing better and has outgrown his sister.

Slowly, the babies have been making great strides and while they still get frequent checkups from several medical specialists, Rajendram says their personalities are shining through.

“She’s (Adiah) an extremely happy and social baby, and smiles all day long,” Rajendram told GWR. “She is very chatty and has ‘conversations’ with us and her toys for hours.” Adrial, who is more on the reserved side, is extremely observant and intelligent, Rajendram said.