Conjoined Twins

Conjoined Twins

Last week on Bioedge, Michael Cook brought to our attention a story from the UK involving Lisa and Mike Chamberlain, soon-to-be parents of conjoined twins, who have refused to consider terminating their pregnancy. The exact extent to which the twins are conjoined is still not known to their doctors, but to date their physicians have seen two heads, a single body cavity and set of limbs, and have only heard a single heart beating. Doctors have estimated that the twins' chances of survival are around 20%.

Even with these basic known facts, the Chamberlains have refused to consider termination. Why? For one, the couple tried to conceive for seven years--and upon conception, these two babies are their only children. To give them up would surely be a devastating tragedy. The Bioedge blog sharply criticized the Chamberlain's critics, who have been many according to Bioedge, but in particular a columnist from The Telegraph who said that the couple is "selfish", "irredeemably selfish" and condemning their children to a life as a "freak show".

However, I wouldn't be so quick to judge. For one, after seven years of trying to conceive, the recent news that your children are conjoined and have a 20% chance of survival would be enough to give any parent poor judgment. Moreover, after twenty weeks, when more conclusive data regarding whether the twins share all their vital organs, particularly the heart, come in--then it will be time to ask the parents to weigh all the information and to make and informed choice. Perhaps they will have to make a choice as many parents of conjoined twins do in favor of one twin over the over. Or perhaps termination of the pregnancy entirely will be the only option.

via>>>

This time it is a picture of conjoined twins to people who we can see in the picture where various forms of conjoined twins and people who can not imagine how miserable life together in one body, all the activities of all limited.

If you found out you were pregnant with a baby that had two heads, honestly what would you do? Would you keep the babies? Bao Qiaoying (25), the mother of a set of twins born with one body and two heads, didn’t want to keep the babies at first because she and her husband were poor migrant farmers, but after receiving help from a Chinese hospital, they decided to give birth to the girls. Born 9lbs and 20 inches long, each girl has a spine and an esophagus, but share most other organs. The doctor said it’s nearly impossible to separate the two without killing the other. The parents learned of the two heads just two days before giving birth.

http://blog.bioethics.net/2009/01/quick-easy-criticism-of-conjoined-twins-parents-is/

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