Posted on 01/12/2009 1:43:09 PM PST by wagglebee
PORTSMOUTH, UK, January 12, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Lisa Chamberlain, 25, pregnant with dicephalus twins who have separate heads but share a single body, is determined to allow her conjoined daughters a chance at life, despite doctors advice to kill the children in utero.
If the babies survive after birth, they will become the first ever living British dicephalus twins.
"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," Chamberlain told the UK Sun.
"To me, my twins are a gift from God and we're determined to give them their chance of life," she said, adding, "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 and Mike Pedace, who are both Catholics, said doctors advised Lisa to kill the children after a routine scan revealed that they had the extremely rare condition.
"Some might think my twins are strange but to me they're just special. Even some of my family say they'd have an abortion but I hate the word and I just don't think it's up to us to decide,” Lisa said.
Mike, who said they had been trying for a baby for seven years, 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."
Mike said he and Lisa were encouraged by the example of Abigail and Brittany Hensel, 18-year-old dicephalus twins in the US, who though they share a liver and rib-cage, lead virtually normal lives.
A UK Telegraph report indicated that doctors at St. Mary's Hospital in Portsmouth 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.
Michaela Aston of the pro-life group LIFE, the UK's leading provider of crisis pregnancy and post-abortion counseling, commended Lisa on her decision.
"This young mother is an example to us all as she unconditionally welcomes her twins into the world," Aston said in Press Association report.
"She knows it will be difficult but she is focusing on the fact that she is already the proud mother of these babies and accepts them however they are. They may not be perfect in the eyes of the world but they are fully human and as such should have the same value and right to life as any other human beings.
"It is sad that this young mother must face a society which is increasingly unable to accept babies who are not genetically perfect and which may judge her for allowing her twins to continue to live," Aston concluded.
It certainly is.
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God bless these people.
What if they can’t get along? Oh MY!
I agree. Talk about a sick mindset, as a society. These folks are heroes in my book. I am also proud of them.
I just watched a program on a set of twins like this in the United States. The two heads (sorry, I don’t know how else to describe it) have separate personalities, and each control their side of their body. None the less, they can use their hands together to do tasks. They each take their separate tests in school. They got individual driver’s licenses when they tested and passed.
The story was quite heartwarming. The other kids at their high school were supportive of them. I couldn’t help being proud of those kids as well.
People talk about diversity, and then do their damnedest to end something like this. Not no, but hell no!
The twins I viewed enriched other people’s lives. How could someone be so shallow as to try to prevent this type of life?
what? the msm editors must have slipped when using the un-PC term “Siamese Twins”.
People will oooh and ahhh over a burned and disfigured cat pulled out of a fire, clamor to adopt it, then one breath later advocate to end the life of a human being.
Thanks Western Phil. These girls are so remarkable. I know they want their privacy and I respect that, but I find my self curious about them and wishing them every good thing in life.
The way their minds work together is of intense interest. This is a unique situation that needs to be documented to the inth degree. Their relatively good health, makes them an important case for how other conjoined twins could be helped or function the most optimally in life.
with their socialize medical care I am amazed that she has any options.......God bless this mother and her twins.
I certainly hadn't seen the term used in a while.
Steven Ertelt at LifeNews wrote the article and didn't seem to have a problem with it, the mother used the term Siamese as well.
Conjoined twins is the modern way to describe this of course. Haven’t seen it referred to as Siamese for a long long time.
The mother uses the term “Siamese twins” and so did the title.
There is a website dedicated to the Herrin twins.
The parents opted for separation and it’s been quite a travail. That said, their story is there for us to read about. They have documented their story from birth to now when the girls are kindergarten age, IIRC.
There is also a set of girl twins (?) who are now about 16. They appear to have two heads and one body. They are documented as well and can be seen on TV programs on occasion.
Good for this young couple.
I saw that show too. I was amazed. Sure, it would not be what I’d want to view on an ultrasound. And the children will get screams or sick faces in the public eye, sadly. But in the end, these are people and this is how they are. And I definitely do not think that DOCTORS should be telling these parents to abort.
If it’s because life will be “harder,” where do you draw the line? Life is harder for people with asthma, colorblindness, some minorities, gays, left-handers, and people with unruly curls.
Why do these doctors even bother to recite the Hippocratic oath?
America has adopted a new breed of eugenics. Instead of eugenics for the “glory of the race”, we have eugenics for materialist hedonism.
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