Swans star Gary Rohan announces the birth of his ‘perfect’ twin daughters

Sydney Swans star Gary Rohan says the birth of his two twin daughters yesterday was a moment he and his wife Amie “will forever cherish”.

In a bitter-sweet image posted to Instagram today, Rohan announced the birth of Bella and Willow, describing them as “the most perfect little souls we have ever laid eyes on”.

Born at 8.59am, Bella weighed just 1780 grams and was 43cm tall while her sister Willow was born at 9am and weighed 1295 grams and was 41cm tall.

Tragically, Willow – who was diagnosed in the womb with anencephaly – had just five hours with her parents before she passed away as a result of the condition.

The image comes after Rohan ruled himself out of an upcoming AFL match with the Swans this weekend to be with his wife throughout the family tragedy.

The AFL player revealed months ago that one of the two twins had been diagnosed with the fatal neural tube defect that was described by doctors as “not compatible with life”.

Anencephaly is a condition that causes the underdevelopment of the brain, scalp and skull.

"Amie, Bella and I soaked up every second we had with Willow, making as many memories as we could all together,” Rohan said in post today.

“It’s those little moments we know we will never get back, and we will forever cherish the time we spent as our little family of four, before our darling Willow grew her little angel wings.

“Bella is currently getting some special care in the NICU nursery but all in all doing very well.

"Our little angel Willow, oh how much you taught us in your precious 5 hours here ‘A life so brief, a child so small, you had the power to touch us all’,"

The star defender also offered his thanks to medical staff at the Royal Hospital for Women in Sydney who made “one of the hardest days Amie and I have ever had to deal with… so perfect”.

The footballer took to social media in November to reveal Willow’s condition.

“Ames and I have known about this since our 11-week scan, and since knowing, we’ve been constantly discussing what we should do, how we should tell people and if we should tell people at all,” he said at the time.

“We come to the decision that either way, both our babies are beautiful, precious human beings, with the only thing being that sadly one’s life is destined to be cut short.

“There are going to be some really difficult days ahead but also many happy one’s, and we want to share each and every one of those moments with you all.”