Parents Quarantine Prematurely Born Twins for Entire Year

The Vangoethem family made sure their twins were safe and sound — by keeping them at home for 12 months.

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From the second a child is born, most parents would do anything to keep him or her safe. But for one Kansas City-area couple, that meant keeping their newborn twins in quarantine for an entire year.

Born at just 26 weeks old, the Vangoethem twins were given an 85% chance of survival. Their parents, Kyle and Laura Vangoethem, were told to wait and see about their children’s fate. Those aren’t odds any parent wants to hear. The Vangoethems spent every possible moment with their children, who were in incubators and hooked up to monitors for months in the neonatal intensive care. Then, finally, Reed and Anna were sent home with their parents.

(MORE: The Charms of the Quiet Child, by Dr. Oz)

After months of worrying about whether their twins would survive, the medical staff’s assurance that their children were ready to live outside the hospital wasn’t enough for the Vangoethems. They decided that for the health and safety of their infants, they were going to keep them quarantined in their home for a year. That means no visitors outside of very immediate family and a photographer to document their milestones and only the occasional walk outside. KMBC.com visited with the family who made this drastic choice to protect their children. Watch the clip above.

From the second a child is born, most parents would do anything to keep him or her safe. But for one Kansas City-area couple, that meant keeping their newborn twins in quarantine for an entire year.

Born at just 26 weeks old, the Vangoethem twins were given an 85% chance of survival. Their parents, Kyle and Laura Vangoethem, were told to wait and see about their children’s fate. Those aren’t odds any parent wants to hear. The Vangoethems spent every possible moment with their children, who were in incubators and hooked up to monitors for months in the neonatal intensive care. Then, finally, Reed and Anna were sent home with their parents.

(MORE: The Charms of the Quiet Child, by Dr. Oz)

After months of worrying about whether their twins would survive, the medical staff’s assurance that their children were ready to live outside the hospital wasn’t enough for the Vangoethems. They decided that for the health and safety of their infants, they were going to keep them quarantined in their home for a year. That means no visitors outside of very immediate family and a photographer to document their milestones and only the occasional walk outside. KMBC.com visited with the family who made this drastic choice to protect their children. Watch the clip above.