Conjoined twins share joy after defying doctors’ expectations

Several conjoined twins are defying doctors’ expectations after their families were told they would die in the womb.

Six sets of conjoined twins, including seven-year-old sisters who have not been separated, gathered at a Great Ormond Street Hospital party to celebrate their progress.

Consultant Paediatric Surgeon Paolo De Coppi said: “Bringing all the children together is very rewarding for us but also for the families as they see what others have gone through – the same difficulties but also the same joy.”

Sisterly bond

Mum Angela Formosa, who attended the party with her eleven-year-old daughters Ruby and Rosie, told BBC News: “We were told they wouldn’t survive the pregnancy – and possibly not after surgery – and now they are at secondary school and doing incredibly well.

“It’s really nice for them to see other twins that started out life the way they did because there are so few of them.”

Ruby said “we’ll always still have that bond that we know we’ll be sisters forever, and we’ll love each other forever, and we’ll care for each other forever”.

‘Amazing’

Hassan and Hussein — 13-year-old brothers from the Republic of Ireland — who were joined at the chest, only have one leg each after they were separated at four months old.

Mum Angie Benhaffaf said: “From the very first scan at 12 weeks they were given no hope of survival but to see them, over 60 surgeries later, is amazing. They have not let this define them.

“It’s really important for me and the boys to meet other children that have been born in extraordinary circumstances. They are a special group and it’s good to know they are not alone in the world.”

Great Ormond Street Hospital first successfully separately conjoined twins in 1985 and has cared for 38 pairs in total. The condition is deemed to be rare, affecting one set of twins each year in Britain on average.

Jodie and Mary

There are conjoined twins who live attached to one another as adults, as well as those who have been successfully separated. But if there is only one heart, lungs and liver between them, a separation will inevitably lead to the death of a twin.

This happened with ‘Jodie and Mary’ (2000), which is the leading case in British law. Their parents did not want the separation to go ahead, but the courts overturned their wishes. Read what the CI said at the time here.