One in 15 million: Identical quadruplet girls born in Australia

According to Metro North Health, the babies developed from a single fertilized egg and shared one placenta, an occurrence described by doctors as unprecedented.

The girls, named Emily, Harriet, Alexa and Catherine, were delivered by cesarean section on July 14 at 28 weeks and four days of gestation. The pregnancy was considered extremely high risk for both the mother and the babies.

The children’s mother, 34-year-old Jenitar Sau Na’amoana, and her husband, Jortham, already have four children aged between 1 and 10. The couple had not planned another child and said they were surprised to learn they were expecting quadruplets.

Jenitar had been under the care of specialists at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital since the 10th week of pregnancy and was admitted to the hospital at 25 weeks for continuous monitoring.

Dr. Alexa Bendall, a maternal fetal medicine specialist and obstetrician at the hospital, said the pregnancy was unlike anything the medical team had previously encountered.

“We have never seen a spontaneously conceived pregnancy of this type with quads, and she has somehow dodged every complication and risk for both herself and her babies to be here today, with four gorgeous newborn girls,” Dr. Bendall said.

The doctor noted that monozygotic quadruplets are estimated to occur in only one out of every 15 million pregnancies, while four identical babies sharing a single placenta is considered unheard of.

“We always said that if we could get her to 28 weeks, we would be doing well, so we are happy she could make it to this gestation,” she said.

The newborns are currently receiving care in the hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit, where they are expected to remain until they reach full term. According to doctors, all four babies are doing very well.

Earlier, Qazinform News Agency reported that U.S. Vice President JD Vance and his wife, Usha Vance, welcomed their fourth child, a son named Alec Neel Vance.