Jesy Nelson has described her twin daughters as “the bravest girls in all of the world” after they underwent surgery on Friday to have their nasogastric feeding tubes removed.
The 35-year-old’s babies, Ocean Jade and Story Monroe, have been receiving specialist medical care since being diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy, a rare genetic condition that weakens muscles.
Following the successful procedure, the former Little Mix singer shared photographs of her daughters recovering in hospital beds, writing on Instagram: “I got their face back feels like a dream.”
She also posted an image of a hair clip bearing the message “good things are coming,” alongside a picture of the twins sleeping side by side after their operation.
Jesy Nelson gave birth to Ocean Jade and Story Monroe Nelson-Foster in May 2025 | INSTAGRAM
In the hours before the operation, Ms Nelson shared a video from the hospital with her 9.5 million Instagram followers, gently stroking one of her daughters’ faces.
“Today is the big day. We’re taking these plasters off aren’t we? No more tuby for you in your face,” she told them.
The evening before, she had posted a photograph of the twins, expressing both nerves and excitement about what lay ahead.
“As terrified as I am about them having their operation tomorrow, I cannot wait to finally see their faces again and see their little dimples that are always hidden under these plasters,” she wrote.
The singer rose to fame as part of the band Little Mix
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GETTYMs Nelson reflected on how even simple moments had become fraught.
“I’ve honestly forgotten what it feels like to cuddle them and not worry about pulling their tube out of their nose or plasters off their face.
“It really is the littlest things we take for granted as parents.”
Ms Nelson revealed in January that her twins, who she shares with former partner Zion Foster, had been born prematurely at 31 weeks and diagnosed with Type 1 SMA, the most severe form of the disease, which progressively destroys muscles.
Ocean Jade and Story Monroe had their nasogastric feeding tubes removed on Friday
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INSTAGRAM / JESY NELSON
She disclosed that her daughters are unlikely ever to walk or develop neck strength due to irreversible nerve damage.
Speaking emotionally at the time, she said: “I am grieving a life I thought I was going to have with my children.”
Ms Nelson described how her daily reality had been transformed, explaining that she had effectively become a nurse to her girls, “putting them on breathing machines and doing stuff that no mother should have to do with their child.”
The NHS lists muscle weakness, breathing and swallowing difficulties, and bone and joint problems among the condition’s effects.
Since her daughters’ diagnosis, Ms Nelson has been a vocal advocate for adding SMA to the routine newborn blood spot screening test, arguing that early detection and treatment can prevent the condition’s most severe consequences.
Her campaign included appearing alongside Giles Lomax, chief executive of SMA UK, at Parliament Square ahead of a Westminster Hall debate on the issue.
Jesy Nelson’s twin girls were born prematurely last year |
INSTAGRAM / JESY NELSON
Those efforts bore fruit last month when the Department of Health confirmed that a national newborn screening programme for SMA would be introduced across England as part of an evaluation programme beginning at the end of this year.
The initiative will see hundreds of thousands of babies tested through the straightforward heel-prick blood test already carried out shortly after birth.
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