Joy Augustyn, Tahnee (PEOPLE & PORTRAIT 2025)

Tahnee had been admitted to hospital the day after I photographed her beautiful new family. At 7 weeks postpartum after birthing twin boys, she was diagnosed with infective endocarditis (a bacterial infection of one of her heart valves which resulted in open heart surgery to replace the infected valve. An infection that is almost unheard of in people her age, let alone a new mother. The doctors were stumped. Her newborn twins just 9 weeks old the time of her surgery. I sat with Tahnee over a coffee, 12 weeks after her surgery and listened to her incredible story, that on a number of occasions elicited a visceral reaction, chills and a tightness in my chest as I sat in shock at the details of her experience. I listened to her story as a mother myself of three children, in complete awe of her strength and determination. Becoming a mother for the first time, let alone to twins, rocks the foundations of your world, you find a strength you never knew existed. Now imagine, as a new mother you also have to face your own mortality, it's unfathomable. Tahnee also made the remarkable choice to exclusively pump breastmilk to feed her twins during the entire process of her treatment and recovery, and is still able to breastfeed her boys today. Something she is incredibly proud of. I am in awe of her strength and her story is one that deserved to be documented and told. ”

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