Heartwarming Moment 11 Month Old Girl Meets Her Identical Twin Sister For The FIRST TIME After Spending Nearly A Year In The NICU With A Rare Birth Defect
- Dan and Marija Sparano from New York welcomed two daughters in May 2022
- One of the girls, Nina, was born with a congenital defect and was sent to intensive care
- And after a total of 340 days apart, the twins are finally reunited
An 11-month-old girl has met her identical twin sister for the first time after being taken to intensive care from birth.
Dan and Marija Sparano of New York welcomed daughters Emma and Nina in May 2022 in what was “the happiest moment” of their lives.
But in a lengthy post on Facebook, the new dad said: “We didn’t know at the time that the moment of their birth was the last time they would be in the same room for more than 11 months.”
And after a total of 340 days apart, the twins are finally reunited.
An 11-month-old girl has met her identical twin sister for the first time after being taken to intensive care from birth
Dan and Marija Sparano, of New York, welcomed daughters Emma and Nina in May 2022 in what was ‘the happiest moment’ of their lives
Nina was born with a birth defect called Pierre Robin Sequence – which is characterized by an underdeveloped jaw, backward displacement of the tongue and upper airway obstruction.
And as a result was taken to the neonatal intensive care unit at Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital in New York City.
Marija, who works as an auditor at US Customs and Border Protection, told me Today: ‘The first few weeks I couldn’t look at Nina without crying. I just wanted her to be with Emma.”
But finally the day came when the duo were reunited.
Emma’s music teacher was on hand to play guitar and sing an original song about the twins.
“They kept trying to touch each other,” says 37-year-old Marija. “Nina’s speech therapist told me it’s a sign of love and affection.”
Speaking of the gathering on social media, Dan, 36, said it was a ‘culmination of all the hardships and hard work we endured to get here’.
Nina has yet to undergo further procedures and will likely be discharged this summer.
Nina (left) was born with a birth defect called Pierre Robin Sequence was taken to the neonatal intensive care unit at Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital in New York City
Dan, who also praises the work of the medical staff, concludes: ‘Everyone is going through something; this has been something to us’
Dan, who also praises the work of the medical staff, concludes: ‘Everyone is going through something; this has been something to us.
“We are incredibly lucky to have both of our girls and feel incredibly lucky to be in the position we are in because every day we see kids who have harder journeys and harder roads back to their families than we do.
“It could have been much worse in many, many ways, and we are thankful for all we have and what we are going through.
“It’s only going to make our family stronger.”