Couple refuse to abort conjoined twins

A pregnant woman who discovered last week that she is carrying a rare form of conjoined twins has pledged not to abort them.

Doctors say there is only about a 20 percent chance of survival for the dicephalus twins of Mike Pedace and Lisa Chamberlain, whose fetus has separate heads but share a single body. No dicephalus twins have ever survived long after birth.

Despite the risks, however, the Catholic couple says they will not throw away the “gift from God” they were given after seven years of efforts.

"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," said 25-year-old Chamberlain, according to The Telegraph.

"To me, my twins were a gift from God and we're determined to give them a chance of life."

Chamberlain and 32-year-old Pedace, who are reportedly engaged to be married, say they have found hope from the case of Abigail and Brittany Hensel, the 18-year-old dicephalus twins in the United States who lead relatively normal lives despite sharing a rib cage, two arms, two legs, and organs below the waist.

The Hensel twins are currently attending Bethel University in St Paul, Minnesota, a private institution affiliated with the Baptist General Conference. Together, they coordinate both their arms and legs and are able to walk, run, ride a bicycle, and even drive. They also have a seamstress who alters their clothes.

Doctors at St Mary's Hospital in Portsmouth, England, where Chamberlain is being monitored, say that they will not know how many organs her twins share until the twentieth week of pregnancy. From the ultrasound that was performed last week, they have only detected a single heartbeat so far. It is possible that another one may emerge, increasing the chance of their survival.

Chamberlain has already named the twins Layla and Kelsey, after having been told that 75 per cent of Siamese twins are girls.

The twins are expected to be born at London’s University College Hospital where conjoined twins Hope and Faith Williams were born last month. The Williams twins died after complicated surgery to separate them.