Florida mom gives birth to rare set of identical twins with Down syndrome
Identical twins are a miracle all by themselves. Births like this happen three or four times in 1000.
Savannah Combs, a first time mother, learned she was carrying twins. She and her husband were overjoyed by the thought of welcoming two babies.
Everything went well with the pregnancy and the couple learned they were expecting girls. However, they also learned that their identical twins both had Down Syndrome. The news came as a shock at first, but Savannah, 23, soon realized that the condition only meant that her girls would be super special. She didn’t mind they would be born with the syndrome. Of course, she was aware that there would be people who wouldn’t accept her bundles of joy, but that didn’t concern her a great deal.
“It’s very rare what they have, but they’ve been my little gems,” the proud mother told News4JAX.
Once the girls were born, Savannah and her husband Justin decided to share their journey on TikTok. The two tiny beauties, Kennadi Rue and Mckenli gained a number of followers on the social media where Savannah posted about each of the milestones they reached.
In one of the videos she shared on TikTok, Savannah revealed how doctors advised her to terminate her pregnancy because the chances of her girls to survive were slim, but she decided to give them a fighting chance. As it turned out, she did the right thing. ”Every [prenatal] appointment they were alive was a blessing to me,” Savannah explained.
They were born five weeks prematurely and had to spend some time at the NICU. Today, they are nine months old and thriving. In fact, they are just like any other baby out there.
“They’re called mono di twins, meaning that they had their own sacs, but they shared the same placenta, meaning that they were going to be identical,” Savannah explained.
“Mo di twins as it is, it’s like very rare. And then you throw Down syndrome on top of it, it’s like one in 2 million.”
“They have feelings. They have a beating heart. They know how to talk. They know how to do things you do. They will get there,” she added. “Like I said, it may be a step behind but they’re going to do it. I’ve learned these kids are feisty little things and happy little things.”
She loves showing the world that having Down Syndrome doesn’t necessarily mean the life of those people is in any way affected negatively.
“I’m going to let them know that they’re just like us and they’re going to get there as long as they put their minds to it.”
Of course, there are always those who post negative comments and judge Savannah for keeping her babies.
”I wouldn’t want those babies; if mine came out like that, they would be straight up for adoption,” one person wrote under one of the videos. However, this mother had just the right answer for the mean person. “I said, good thing they weren’t born to you and were born to me. God knew what he was doing by giving these babies to the right parents who would love them regardless,” Savannah replied.
These girls are truly happy for having a mom like Savannah who wants to raise awareness about Down Syndrome and teach the world that those who have it can lead a happy and fulfilling lives, just like her two beautiful angels.
For more on this family’s beautiful life story go to the video below.