Becca and Lavareis Bryant have officially made history. Their naturally conceived quadruplets — two boys and a pair of identical twin girls — have been recognized by Guinness World Records as the most premature surviving quads, born 115 days early at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Hospital in May 2024.
Delivered at just 23 weeks and 4 days of gestation — far short of the full-term 39 to 40 weeks — the babies faced staggering odds. With only a 10% chance of survival for all four, their story is nothing short of miraculous.
“I call them my miracle babies,” says Becca Bryant, 30, in an interview with TODAY.com.
Tiny Fighters from the Start
The smallest of the four, Lainey, weighed just 635 grams, while Lennon, the largest, was 771 grams. All four spent roughly six months in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), gradually learning to breathe and eat on their own.
Their achievement now breaks a nearly 30-year-old record previously held by the Tepper quadruplets, born in 1997. The youngest premature baby to ever survive remains Curtis Means, born at 21 weeks and one day — also at UAB — in 2020.
A Rare and Natural Miracle
Becca went into labor when her cervix began shortening prematurely, leading to her water breaking while she was on bed rest. Infection soon followed, leading to an emergency C-section.
“I started getting sick, pretty fast,” she recalls. “It felt like just a few minutes later, I was on the operating table. It was pretty emergent.”
The delivery was chaotic, with over 30 medical professionals in the room, each focused on stabilizing the “tiny, tiny” newborns — some barely larger than an Elf on the Shelf.
“It was fast, furious, and terrifying,” Becca says. “I didn’t get to see or touch them, and that was really hard.”
A Golden Start in the NICU
The newborns were admitted to UAB’s Golden Week Program, designed to improve outcomes for extremely preterm infants. According to neonatologist Dr. Colm Travers, the first week is the most critical for survival.
It took 45 days before Becca could hold each of her babies for the first time. They were finally discharged home six months later in December 2024, just in time for the holidays, where they joined older siblings Kendall, 12; Laikyn, 7; and Kainen, 3.
The Bryant quads are especially rare — naturally conceived without fertility treatments. Such pregnancies occur in only about 1 in 700,000 cases, explains Dr. Ayodeji Sanusi, their maternal-fetal medicine specialist.
Despite being medically fragile, the quadruplets have made incredible progress. Lennon, the heaviest at 7711 grams, is fed through a G-tube. Lainey, still the smallest at 6350 grams, and Koen both receive oxygen via nasal cannulas. “The fact that they’re able to eat a bottle is a really big deal,” says Becca, noting the slow reduction in their oxygen needs.
As a cardiac ICU nurse, Becca is no stranger to complex care routines, and her husband, Lavareis, 40, a police officer, balance their demanding careers with raising seven children, including four toddlers — and they do it with calm and grace.
“People tell us, ‘If anyone was supposed to have quads, it was y’all,” Becca laughs. “In both our jobs, you don’t have time to panic. You have to react quickly and keep moving.”
Their older kids help out with diaper changes (about 40 a day) and the family tackles two loads of baby laundry daily.
For Becca, the Guinness World Record is more than a title — it’s a testament to the strength and resilience of her miracle babies.
Source: Today.com
