Newborn twin girls in Akron are defying the odds and capturing hearts around the world. A picture of them holding hands at birth is going viral. ‘Mono mono’ twins Jenna and Jillian Thistlewaite developed inside the same ᴀmniotic sᴀc. A rare set of ‘mono mono’ twin girls have been filmed holding hands mere moments after they were born.

Newborns Jenna and Jillian Thistlewaite shared the same single amniotic sac and placenta in their mother’s womb – meaning theirs was a monoamniotic birth, or ‘mono mono’ for short. Mono mono births are very rare, happening in just 1 in every 10,000 pregnancies. Jenna and Jillian were born by C-section last Friday in Ohio in the US. And, as you can see in our clip, when the doctors held the identical girls up for parents Sarah and Bill to see, the twins were holding hands. “It was overwhelming. I can’t even put into words,” mum Sarah, 32, told ABC news. “There wasn’t a dry eye in the whole operating room.”

The twins were delivered at 33 weeks, after Sarah had spent almost 2 months on bed rest in Akron General Medical Center. Sarah had to be monitored constantly because, with mono mono twins, there is a real risk that they can become entangled in each other’s umbilical c.ords or one twin’s body can compress the c.ord of the other.

The girls needed some special care shortly after the birth to help with their breathing but, on Sunday – which was Mothering Sunday in the US – Sarah and Bill were able to hold them properly for the first time. “It’s just hard to put into words how amazing it feels to know the girls are OK,” said Sarah. “It’s great to know that they’re doing so well, and being able to hold them – the best Mother’s Day present ever.’

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