A 34-year-old mother in Australia has delivered an exceptionally rare set of identical quadruplets, following a natural conception that doctors say happens in roughly one in 15 million pregnancies.
Jenitar Na’amoana gave birth to her “precious miracles” — Emily, Harriet, Catherine and Alexa — by cesarean section on July 14 at Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital in Herston, Queensland, when she was 28 weeks and four days pregnant, the BBC reported.
Na’amoana and her husband, Jortham, said they were met with “immense surprise” after discovering they were expecting identical quadruplets, especially because the pregnancy was conceived without fertility treatment.
The four baby girls are monozygotic quadruplets, a rare outcome that occurs when one fertilized egg divides into four separate embryos.
Their arrival has expanded the Brisbane family to eight children, with the couple’s older children ranging in age from 1 to 10.
Dr. Alexa Bendall, who managed Na’amoana’s care, said the pregnancy was even more extraordinary because the four babies shared one placenta.
“Identical quadruplets occur at one in every 15 million pregnancies, but to share the same placenta — this is unheard of,” Bendall told the BBC.
Because of the heightened risks linked to the rare quadruplet pregnancy, Na’amoana was admitted to the hospital at 25 weeks so medical teams could closely monitor her health and the babies’ development.
Despite those risks, Na’amoana reached 28 weeks and four days without experiencing the major complications doctors had anticipated.
“We always said that if we could get her to 28 weeks, we would be doing well,” Bendall said.
“So the fact that we’ve got four beautiful, healthy babies born at 28 weeks and four days is incredible and we’re very happy to be a part of it.”
Na’amoana “has somehow dodged every complication and risk for both herself and her babies,” Bendall said.
Na’amoana and her husband named one of the newborns Alexa in honor of Bendall. The doctor called the gesture “a beautiful tribute,” the ABC reported.
The newborns are expected to remain in the neonatal intensive care unit for several weeks while they continue to grow stronger.
Na’amoana later launched a GoFundMe campaign to help cover medical expenses and the cost of a larger van for the family’s new life as a household of 10.
“Our four precious miracles have arrived safely,” she wrote. “And while our hearts are overflowing with gratitude, the reality of caring for four newborns at once has brought challenges we never could have imagined.”
As of July 21, the fundraiser had raised more than 82,000 Australian dollars (about $57,500).
