Matt and Jodie are the parents of twin girls who suffer from Down syndrome, and they have just come forward to tell their story in the hopes of showing other parents that life with a child with Down syndrome can be incredibly fulfilling.

The couple’s twins Abigail and Isobel were diagnosed with Down syndrome as soon as they were born four weeks prematurely, and at first, their parents were not aware of their genetic condition.

“When the doctor took us to one side to give us the results, the one thing he said to us was that he was sorry that Abigail and Isobel had Down’s syndrome… To this day, I’ll never know what he was sorry for,” the couple said.

Having twins with Down syndrome is extremely rare, with doctors putting the odds of having twins with this condition at one in a million.

These days, most women get prenatal testing to see if their children will have Down syndrome, and it is estimated that between 60 and 90 percent of people who receive a prenatal Down syndrome diagnosis choose to abort the baby. Jodie and Matt, however, say that being the parents of a child with Down syndrome should be seen as a blessing rather than something that is feared.

“Life is just a bit more different. Everything just takes a little bit longer,” they said.

The twins are now 5 years-old, and they are thriving at the mainstream school that they attend.

“I have learnt there is no difference between them and [their brother] Finn other than the speed with which they are developing,” Matt said.

Matt and Jodie are hoping that their twins will inspire other parents and remind them that “a life with Down syndrome is a life worth living.”

Find out more about these one in a million twins in the video below.