Alabama family’s miracle quadruplets born at 23 weeks hold Guinness World Record

At their first birthday party in Auburn, Alabama, quadruplets Lainey, Kali, Lennon, and Keon Bryant wore matching outfits, smashed cupcakes, and smiled for the camera. Just one year earlier, these four happy toddlers weren’t expected to survive. 

Born 115 days early, the “Quads of Aubs” are now Guinness World Record holders for being the most premature set of surviving quadruplets in history. They were delivered at just 23 weeks and four days.

Key Takeaways:

• Quadruplets born in Alabama in 2024 have turned a year old, and hold the Guinness World Record for being the most premature quads to survive.

• Two of the babies are identical and two are fraternal, as three eggs were fertilized and one split.

• They were born at the University of Alabama Birmingham.

The Backstory:

The quadruplets’ story began in February 2024 when Becca and Lavareis Bryant walked into a routine ultrasound expecting to see one baby. Instead, the technician counted four. The couple already had three children at home, but they were elated—and scared.

“Every appointment I was excited to see the babies, but I was also scared that something was going to be wrong with somebody,” said Becca in a Guinness World Records interview.

While the odds of having quadruplets are about one in 700,000 births, Lavareis is a twin himself so the couple did know multiples were a possibility. but they never imagined the possibility of four babies. Even more incredibly, Becca had a trichorionic quadra-amniotic pregnancy, which means there were four babies and four sacs but only three placentas.

“The odds of this specific type of quads are around one in 7 million,” said Ayodeji Sanusi, M.D., Becca’s maternal-fetal medicine physician at the University of Alabama Birmingham. “Three eggs were fertilized; but one split, making two of the babies identical and two fraternal. It also added on to the complex and high-risk nature of her pregnancy.”

The Details:

Becca’s pregnancy was closely monitored at UAB. At 19 weeks, her cervix began to shorten, which signals impending labor. She was admitted to the hospital and doctors tried to delay delivery until at least 28 weeks, but at just over 23 weeks, her water broke.

When signs of infection emerged the next day, her doctors called for an emergency c-section.

The delivery unfolded just after 2 a.m. on May 31, 2024. Thirty specialists filed into the room and, one by one, the babies were delivered in rapid succession.

Sanusi said, “It was an all-hands-on-deck situation. We even had team members who were not working come in to assist.”

The quads were enrolled in UAB’s “Golden Week” program, which focuses on improving outcomes during the critical first seven days of life. Each baby faced a cascade of medical challenges, from lung issues to infections and surgeries.

But slowly, the babies grew stronger. By December, all four were discharged just in time for Christmas.

Their neonatologist, Dr. Colm Travers, had quietly been researching whether any other quadruplets born that early had survived. He found no record. And Guinness confirmed the news earlier this year.

“There were so many times we were so close to losing one of them,” Becca said. “But I kept saying ‘We came in with four, and we’re taking four home.’ We were going to do whatever it took to get there.”

Now at home with their older siblings and parents, the quadruplets are still medically fragile. Lainey and Keon require oxygen support, and Lennon uses a G-tube to supplement feeding, but they are all making progress. 

The Bottom Line:

It’s not the story the Bryants ever imagined telling, but it’s one they now cherish and share with the world.

“Hearing our babies were the most premature quads put into perspective how lucky we were that all of them made it,” Becca said. “We had our family and friends, as well as the UAB team, there the whole way. Fighting for our babies, fighting for our family.”