Twin boys heard their mom's voice for the first time, together

Twin boys in Australia received cochlear implants on the same day, in what doctors described as a first for the country. Artie and Jack Porter were born prematurely and profoundly deaf, and their mother, Emily Porter, wanted them to hear her voice together rather than weeks apart. Ear, nose and throat surgeon Rithvik Reddy called it a big surgery and an organizational feat, scheduled to let the brothers go through the journey at the same time. The pinnacle came at the Shepherd Centre, where a team switched the implants on. The boys turned toward Emily's voice, eyes widening. Their older brother, Tommy, was there too. Each morning now, turning the implants on has become a small family ritual. "They smile," Ewan Porter said. "You can tell that they're understanding what you're saying." He called it a gift and a miracle. The boys, for their part, mostly seem interested in who is talking.