Twin pregnancies are still quite uncommon, despite a 72% increase in likelihood between 1980 and 2018. Twins are born in about 33 of every 1,000 births.
What are the probabilities of having identical twins? Out of 1,000 births, three to four are identical twins on average. So once more, not very common.
Savannah Combs, age 23, was overjoyed to learn she was expecting twins. She then discovered that they both have Down syndrome, which is also unusual.
Of course, the information was upsetting. Savannah and her husband Justin Ackerman were aware that due of her illness and the state of her children, some people would judge them.
But Savannah finds that to be the same thing that makes them so beautiful.
“It’s very rare what they have, but they’ve been my little gems,” she mentioned.
Savannah, a Middleburg, Florida native, posted videos of her postpartum journey on TikTok with her kids Kennadi Rue and Mckenli Ackerman, and the videos immediately acquired popularity.
Savannah said in one of her videos that she was advised to abort her children because they wouldn’t survive.
She made the choice to keep them and give them a shot.
”Every [prenatal] appointment they were alive was a blessing to me,” Savannah explained.
Her spouse was gone at boot camp when she found out they both had Down syndrome.
When Savannah was admitted to the hospital, she was 29 weeks along with her pregnancy and gave birth to twin daughters. Kennadi Rue and Mckenli Ackerman, identical twin daughters, were born on May 12, 2021.
The twins had to spend a few weeks in the NICU before going home because they were born two months early.
“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,” she said.
“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 are just like any other youngster, according to Savannah, despite having an uncommon disease.
“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 said.
“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.”Savannah posts wonderful updates on TikTok as each youngster continues to reach their milestones.
“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.”
Nevertheless, some people feel compelled to be critical of Savannah and her family. The young mother was forced to respond to some extremely cruel people on social media as a result.
”I wouldn’t want those babies; if mine came out like that, they would be straight up for adoption,” one person wrote to the mother.
Savannah, though, had the ideal response, which she posted on Facebook.
“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.”
What happened to Ann Curry after a 25-year career at NBC News?
What happened to Ann Curry?
The veteran journalist, who celebrates her 67th birthday on November 19, has remained relatively quiet since she was forced out of her job at Today in 2012 and later, NBC News in 2015.
Despite her name no longer appearing in the headlines, Curry continues to work in the field of journalism.
Curry, the eldest of five, was born in Guam to Hiroe Nagase and Robert Paul “Bob” Curry. As a child she spent several years living in Japan before her family moved to Oregon where she attended high school and would later attend and graduate from college.
She began her broadcasting career in 1978 as an intern at KTVL, then an NBC affiliate in Oregon. After succeeding as an intern she was promoted to become the station’s first female news reporter.
Two years into her career she moved to KGW in Portland where she worked as both an anchor and reporter. She later moved to Los Angeles where she worked as a reporter for a CBS affiliate for six years.
During that time she won two Emmy Awards for her work.
Career at NBC News
In 1990, Curry began her career at NBC News.
She began as an NBC News Chicago correspondent before securing a job as an anchor on the now defunct show, NBC News at Sunrise. During her five-year stint as an anchor on the morning show, she also filled in for Today‘s Matt Lauer.
In 1997 she was promoted to news anchor on Today and held the position from 1997 to 2011.
In addition to reading the news on Today, Curry was named co-anchor of Dateline NBC in 2005, and she was the main substitute on NBC Nightly News from 2005 to 2011.
Regardless of her accolades or coverage of hard news stories, in June 2012, Curry found herself out of a job.
Her departure was emotional and public, and it was never very clear the reason behind her leaving Today.
While she no longer sat next to Matt Lauer, she remained with NBC News, but only until January 2015.
Life after NBC News
Following her 25-year career with NBC News, Curry slowed down, but made no less of an impact with her reporting.
She founded a multi-platform media company, reported and produced the PBS series We’ll Meet Again, gave a TED Talk about restoring trust in journalism, and hosted TNT’s Chasing the Cure.
In 2022, Curry received the Murrow Lifetime Achievement Award from Washington State University’s Edward R. Murrow College of Communication. The university recognized her work “on human suffering in war zones and natural disasters through her work as an American journalist, photojournalist, and reporter.”
Most recently, Curry sat down with Min Jin Lee, author of “Pachinko,” for PBS Arts Talk.
And while Curry has kept posting to a bare minimum on social media, after a year and a half absence, she returned to share a wintry photo.
“Good morning world. Keep safe and cozy. ‘The woods are lovely, dark and deep…’” she wrote before disappearing again.
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