Australian parents welcome rare identical quadruplets
Jenitar and Jortham Na’amoana of Brisbane, Australia, welcomed four newborn daughters on July 14, reports BritPanorama.
Mom Jenitar, 34, was admitted to the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital at 25 weeks gestation so her high-risk pregnancy could be monitored. The babies were born via C-section at 28 weeks and 4 days.
The parents chose a selection of classic names for their daughters: Emily, Harriet, Catherine, and Alexa. The naming of the last child holds particular significance for the family, as Alexa was named after Dr. Alexa Bendall, the maternal fetal medicine specialist who provided care throughout Jenitar’s pregnancy.
Bendall described the naming as “a beautiful tribute.” The girls, who are monozygotic quadruplets, will remain in the NICU until they grow to full term. Doctors estimate the odds of conceiving spontaneous identical quadruplets at roughly one in 15 million.
Experts note that the quads’ birth may be among the first of its kind in Australia. “There may have been a couple of cases elsewhere in the world and when I say a couple, literally a couple,” Bendall told Australian outlet Nine News.
Adapting to life with four newborns will be a challenge for the family, especially considering that Jenitar and Jortham already have four other children aged between 1 and 10. They are looking to purchase a 10-passenger van to accommodate their growing family.
In total, Emily, Harriet, Catherine, and Alexa are “currently doing extremely well,” according to Bendall. Their mother, too, has shown remarkable resilience throughout the process. “Jenitar has taken everything in her stride from day one… she has somehow dodged every complication and risk for both herself and her babies,” Bendall added.
