Daniel and Marija Sparano gave birth to Nina Sparano, who has Pierre Robin Syndrome, a rare medical condition.
The lower jaw is underdeveloped, the palate is cleft, and the tongue is positioned further back in the mouth.
Nina was born at Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital in New York City, and to enhance her quality of life, she required a number of operations and intensive therapies.
Dr. Dennis Davidson, the director of the Baby and Toddler Unit at Blythedale Children’s Hospital, discovered that although they both had the same mother, Emma did not have Pierre Robin Syndrome while Nina did.
Despite their differences, the two girls are maturing and developing strong bonds with one another.
Nina Sparano, a patient at Blythedale Children’s Hospital, first saw her identical sister Emma on Monday. The difficult reunion was something Daniel and Marija, who were then 37 and 36, had been looking forward to for some time.
The father remarked that it felt “simply so lovely” to see his two children together for the first time as Nina’s mother Marija cradled her close during the celebration of this historic event. Nina had been receiving continuous care from the hospital.
Despite having separate amniotic sacs, the uncommon monochorionic diamniotic twins Nina and Emma share a placenta. Nina’s uterine growth had been difficult, and her sac had expanded to enclose her face and cause a cleft palate.
Their parents were overcome with emotion as they left the hospital following the successful procedure to separate them. They were overjoyed that their children would no longer be constrained by the suffocating confines of an amniotic sac, giving them a better chance at survival.
Nina was brought to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital shortly after she was born. She required multiple operations on her jaw as well as extensive pre- and post-operative therapy.
Nina has accomplished many significant developmental milestones since relocating to Blythedale, including gaining four times her original birth weight of four pounds. Emma had never met her younger sister outside of Blythedale until Monday.
When Nina and Emma finally met again after being apart since their birth, the medical staff went through a happy and emotional moment.
Marija describes Nina as a brave, resilient individual who is morphing into a lovely butterfly. Even though it might take some time, she asserted that she believed her daughter would eventually make the transition.
