Reclaiming motherhood after loss

The Star

17-05-2025

Apple of their eye: (From left) Raihan, Ahmad Nazri and their son Ahmad Hafiy Haizen with Dahlia Diyani Naa'ira; Wati and Norizal with Nur Adriana.
KLANG: After losing their own special needs children, two mothers discovered that the most healing path for their broken hearts is the one that leads them to channel their love towards other children facing similar challenges.
They each adopted one of a pair of twin girls with Down syndrome, giving the sisters a loving home while preserving their bond.
It began when Raihan Kamaruddin gave birth to her daughter Jasmin, who had Down syndrome, in 2014.
'Jasmin was also born with severe heart defects and an underdeveloped anus.
'She underwent three heart surgeries and remained in hospital from birth until she passed away the following year,' said the 47-year-old mother from Ipoh, Perak.
Devastated, Raihan spent two years in grief until she received an invitation from a private orphanage in Kuala Lumpur.
A visit to the home, accompanied by her husband and her teen son, changed everything.
'We were shown a pair of twins with Down syndrome.
'We fell head over heels for the younger girl,' Raihan said, adding that her husband Ahmad Nazri Md Rejab also felt an instant connection with the three-month-old baby.
With the consent of the baby's mother – a foreigner impregnated by her employer – Raihan, who works at a legal firm, adopted the younger sibling Dahlia Diyani Naa'ira, as the family could not afford to raise both sisters.
Back home, she could not stop thinking about the older twin, Orked Diyan Nahila, fearing the girl might grow up alone in the orphanage once her birth mother returned to her home country.
She reached out to her friend Wati Hamzah, also 47, from a support group for mothers who had lost their special children, and asked if she would consider adopting the other child.
Wati had lost her three-year-old daughter to leukaemia not long after Jasmin had passed away in 2015.
She and her husband, lorry driver Norizal Salleh, brought the older girl back to their home in Melaka.
The couple, who have four biological children aged 16, 18, 22 and 24, renamed their new daughter Nur Adriana Diyan after their late child.
Although the sisters, now nine, are raised in separate homes, Raihan and Wati make sure they celebrate their birthday and Hari Raya together.
'We want their bond to remain strong as we can see how close they are and how much they love each other,' said Raihan.
Although Nur Adriana Diyan is non-verbal and Dahlia Diyani Naa'ira has limited speech, the twins, who also face other health issues, seem to communicate well in their own special way.
Wati said the girls have also brought both families closer.
'We are now like one big family, and we thank our special girls for bringing us all together,' she added.
And now, Raihan's only concern is that her daughter has yet to be granted citizenship.
'Wati's daughter has already received citizenship as the adoption was formalised through the Welfare Department, but ours is still pending as we adopted the baby directly from the mother and the orphanage,' she said.