Karan Johar's emotional post on his kids Yash-Roohi being premature will move you to tears – Read

New Delhi: Earlier this month, Bollywood's ace filmmaker Karan Johar announced the wonderfully exciting news of the birth of his twin children Roohi and Yash who were born via a surrogate mother.

In an emotional post shared on social media, the filmmaker whose children were born almost 10 weeks before full-term, jotted down a heart-whelming note revealing that he was terrified initially on learning that there were complications with his babies' birth.

"My heart sank... Knowing that there were complications with my babies' birth owing to how soon it was, I was terrified. All I wanted to do was hold them and protect them but they needed to be in the NICU (neonatal intensive care unit). It was painful to see how tiny they were," Karan said.

However, with right kind of care, they can be nurtured towards normal growth, said Karan, adding that those who have premature babies must not get discouraged.

"Millions of preemies are born every year... but babies are resilient. With the right kind of care, they stand just as good a chance of survival as anyone else,” he added.

Now as someone with a voice, he wants to reach out to people about the virtues of neonatal intensive care for premature children.

"Premature babies, when provided with the right kind of care, have just as good of a shot of making it, as babies born on time. If your baby is a preemie, don't be discouraged. Seek help... Don't lose faith, don't lose heart."

Karan said his children were born two months premature and were “worryingly underweight”.

The filmmaker, known for his family dramas, has thanked the legal and medical teams for being his "strength and spine" during the process.

Karan's post has come in support of Surya Hospital's #SavePreemies campaign.

"Having a premature baby is something you don't expect to happen to you. The whole experience has ignited a passion in me to help premature babies get the best chance they can... to help those in anguish who want the best chance of survival for their early born babies," he said.

The children have been under the care of Bhupendra Avasthi, Director, Surya Mother & Child Hospital, and Karan says they are "both on their way to a happy and healthy childhood".

A celebrity's effort to highlight an issue can make a difference, says Avasthi.

"Premature babies are not fully equipped to deal with life in our world. Their little bodies still have underdeveloped parts that include the lungs, digestive system, immune system and skin."

"India needs many more NICU units for its ‘preemies' where they can survive the first few days, weeks or months of life until they are strong enough to make it on their own," Avasthi told IANS.

A premature baby refers to a baby born too early, before 37 weeks of pregnancy. Normally, a pregnancy lasts about 40 weeks. Because their bodies are not yet fully developed, pemature babies need special care than full-term babies.

(With IANS inputs)