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Post by Libby on Jan 12, 2009 18:40:53 GMT
Conjoined twins: Woman pregnant with twins with two heads and single body!
A woman pregnant with a rare type of conjoined twins has pledged not to have an abortion, despite doctors giving them just a 20 per cent chance of survival.
Lisa and her husband Mike were urged to terminate the pregnancy after scans last week revealed that she was carrying dicephalus twins, who have separate heads but share a single body.
No dicephalus twins have ever survived after birth in the UK, but Lisa has pledged to keep her babies even if it means going against the advice of her relatives.
"Some people might look at me and say: 'You're going to give birth to a freak' – but I don't care because I feel blessed," she said.
"To me my twins were a gift from God and we're determined to give them a chance of life."
She added: "I've even give the twins names – Layla and Kelsey – because I think they're going to be little girls. I've been told that 75 per cent of Siamese twins are.
Lisa, 25, and Mike, 32, from Portsmouth who have been trying for a baby for seven years, say they have taken hope from the case of Abigail and Brittany Hensel, 18-year-old dicephalus twins in the US who lead relatively normal lives despite sharing a liver and rib cage.
Mike, a staunch Catholic, told The Sun: "We just want everyone to give us a chance. We know it's going to be very tough and we're prepared for that as much as we can be. We've struggled so long for the chance to have children. Now that we've got that chance we're not going to throw it away."
Doctors at St Mary's Hospital in Portsmouth, where Lisa is being monitored, say that they will not know how many organs the twins share until the twentieth week of pregnancy. They have only detected a single heartbeat so far, but it is possible that another one may emerge.
The last conjoined twins to be born in Britain, Faith and Hope Williams, died less than a month after they were separated.
Would you make the same decision to continue with the pregnancy and accept the risks involved, or would you choose to terminate the pregnancy for whatever reason?
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Post by puffin on Jan 12, 2009 18:44:36 GMT
I'd terminate.
I couldn't condemn any child to a life, however short, with two heads.
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Post by fastkat on Jan 12, 2009 19:02:48 GMT
I have to disagree. I have seen on YouTube videos of a similar pair of twins who are female teenagers. They live as normal life is as possible with having two persons in one body.
I used to be pro-abortion but now with advanced medicine and technology I think all babies should deserve a chance in life. I think it is too easy for mothers to get their babies aborted.
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Post by puffin on Jan 12, 2009 19:16:38 GMT
As normal a life as possible... yep... that says it all.
How normal a life do you think anyone with two heads is going to have?
Are you sure they would really appreciate being given this 'chance in life'?
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avieder
New Member
never lie
Posts: 8,871
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Post by avieder on Jan 12, 2009 19:30:38 GMT
I would say, Puffin #3 that for the baibies THAT would be normal life. Imagin that everybody else had wings and could fly but you couldn't. That would be a handicap in a world that everybody else can fly. But for yourself being "grounded" would be normal.
I suppose that sharing a body with another person is a hadicap of the same magnitude.
Many babies are "not as us". So, do we have th right to kill them?
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Post by lawrence on Jan 12, 2009 19:42:47 GMT
Yeah ,how about it Puffin ? Maybe we should hunt these girls down and kill them too , Eh ??
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Amazed
New Member
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Post by Amazed on Jan 12, 2009 19:43:35 GMT
It would be nice if people would provide us with a link...
The story doesn't say how far the pregnancy has proceeded. If they aren't viable yet I would definitely abort them. Why condemn them to an extremely short and possibly painful life just because an old man in the Vatican thinks it's what you should do?
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sweet soul
New Member
Keep The Faith !
Posts: 5,106 
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Post by sweet soul on Jan 12, 2009 19:52:58 GMT
Im a twin. I would hate to be like these babys. I would rather be dead. Its cruel to bring them into the world.
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Post by Libby on Jan 12, 2009 19:55:18 GMT
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Post by Libby on Jan 12, 2009 19:58:31 GMT
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Post by puffin on Jan 12, 2009 20:03:31 GMT
Lawrence, don't be such a prat.
The girls in your post are alive now.They are not a faetus
I do have experience of handicap and disability.
My own granddaughter has quadrapegic cerebral palsy. She has, on more than one occasion, told me that she wished her mother hadn't resuscitated her when she stopped breathing as a baby. All this though every effort has been made to integrate her into mainstream school throughout her school career, and to give her as many of the experiences as possible that fully able bodied children have.
She puts on a smiling face to the world, and was even given a Child of Courage award a few years ago, but it doesn't change the inner despair she feels in private and that only her close family know.
She has told me, often, that other children she meets regularly, with severe handicap, feel exactly the same.
If I could guarantee that a child, no matter how badly handicapped they were, would not go through life feeling this hidden despair I would say, by all means let a pregnancy go on. No-one can. I couldn't be so cruel to any human being.
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Post by Libby on Jan 12, 2009 20:11:02 GMT
I can't help feeling this, and i am sorry if it offends anyone, but life is hard enough for children growing up in today's World. Do they really need to have to face being stared at for every waking moment, experiencing the hardships and difficulties that they will have to face? I am ashamed to say i would take a second look too if i saw them walking down the street, it's human nature to be curious. Having said that, i would be heartbroken if the twins were my children and faced all the problems they will inevitably face.
The American conjoined twins are an inspiration and no doubt would say they are pleased they survived. Knowing it is possible for them to learn to drive, to attend school etc., does make the debate regarding conjoined twins very difficult. I personally am not strong enough to cope with conjoined babies.
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Post by lawrence on Jan 12, 2009 20:29:59 GMT
If life for the handicapped is so difficult , Puffin , than why don't you encourage your granddaughter to end it ? Seriously , give her a handful of pills and let her slip away. What is the difference between abortion and euthanasia anyway ? If religion has no part in this , if it is only the whims of some old man in Rome , As Amazed so blithely puts it , why not do the humane thing and put these misfits out of their misery ? Right and wrong have nothing to do with it if their is no higher power.
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Amazed
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Post by Amazed on Jan 12, 2009 20:38:42 GMT
Many brands of Christianity are humane, Lawrence. Not every church lets senile men without the slightest inkling of real life decide what is good for their members.
According to the article the foetuses are not yet 20 weeks in gestation. I hope their parents will change their mind while it's possible.
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Post by Libby on Jan 12, 2009 20:42:58 GMT
The difference between abortion and euthanasia is that with abortion the life is terminated without the foetus/baby's knowledge/consent. Whereas with euthanasia life is terminated with the person's knowledge/consent (or at least was agreed when the person made his/her decision or made their living will).
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Post by puffin on Jan 12, 2009 20:45:29 GMT
There is a considerable difference between early abortion and euthanasia, as well you know, Lawrence.
Your suggestion that I should, effectively, kill my own graddaughter is both crass and insulting.
I notice that, on this thread, it is only men who would suggest that they wouldn't consider termination in these circumstances.
it says a lot.
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Post by Libby on Jan 12, 2009 20:47:11 GMT
The article says she became pregnant in December, so thankfully it's very early days. The twins have a slim chance of survival apparently, so it's very likely they won't survive. The woman in question is a staunch Catholic, so she will not choose to terminate the pregnancy as abortion is against her religious beliefs.
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Post by fastkat on Jan 12, 2009 21:31:06 GMT
Yes, they are the twins, lawrence. People may stare and mock these people, but they are human beings and deserve dignity and respect just as much as everyone else. A disability is a disability, yes, but the challenge is to look above their disability and see inside the person rather than always focus on the exterior.
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Post by Libby on Jan 12, 2009 22:56:40 GMT
That would be great if everyone could do that, but unfortunately most people can't seem to. Children don't mean it, but they can be particularly cruel when growing up - i can't imagine how difficult their schooling might be. I heard on the news tonight that it is unlikely they will survive, i am not sure what that information is based on. The news is quite vague.
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Post by puffin on Jan 12, 2009 23:01:30 GMT
The report I heard was that doctors had advised a termination as the babies had only a 20% chance of survival and it would save the mother a lot of heartache along the line.
I think they are right, not just for her but for the infants if they do survive.
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