“Gift from God” Or “Curse of the Devil?” What is wrong with adoption, if you have polycystic ovaries?
Woman is expecting twins with one body
Ellen Widdup [London’s Evening Standard]
12.01.09
A WOMAN pregnant with ‘Siamese twins,’ conjoined twins with two heads on one body, has spoken of her decision to keep them.
Lisa Chamberlain was told she was expecting the rare dicephalous twins during an emergency hospital scan after she started to suffer mysterious back pains nine weeks into her pregnancy.
Abigail and Brittany. Image may be subject to copyright. Abigail “Abby” Loraine Hensel and Brittany “Britty” Lee Hensel (born March 7, 1990, Carver County, Minnesota, United States), are highly symmetric dicephalic parapagus conjoined twins, and further, tribrachius, bipedus. They have two spines and separate half-sacrums, which converge distally within a slightly broad pelvis. They each control and sense their corresponding arm and leg; a third, rudimentary central arm was amputated in infancy. [Wikipedia]
How could any parent be so selfish?
Doctors, who could only find one heartbeat, urged the 25-year-old and her fiancé Mike Pedace to consider an abortion and warned them that the babies had a 20 per cent chance of survival but they refused to terminate the pregnancy, which followed years of trying for a child. Today, the mother-to-be, from Portsmouth, who was 18 when she was diagnosed with polycystic ovaries, a condition which can affect fertility, said the twins were “a gift from God”.
“Some might think my twins are strange, but to me they’re just special,” she said. “Everything happens for a reason. Mike and I have spent over seven years trying to have children and we might not get another go.”
What about their ability to grow normally, marry someone they love and have children of their own?
The twins are likely to be born at London’s University College Hospital, which has a team of obstetric consultants who specialise in complicated births. Siamese twins Faith and Hope Williams, who died last month after surgery to separate them, were born at the hospital.
If Miss Chamberlain’s babies survive the birth, they will make British medical history as the country’s only living dicephalous twins.
“Gift from God” Or “Curse of the Devil?”How would you know the difference?
The former RSPCA worker said: “Over the years I’ve been for so many tests and check-ups I’d virtually given up hope. I feel blessed. To me, my twins are a gift from God and we’re determined to give them their chance of life.”
Why put so many people through so much misery?
Doctors at Portsmouth’s St Mary’s Hospital, where Miss Chamberlain had her scan, have told the couple that the twins may not survive the pregnancy.
Is inflicting extreme pain a part of Roman Catholic upbringing?
But Miss Chamberlain and Mr Pedace, 32, a Roman Catholic, hope their babies will follow the example of 18-year-old American dicephalous twins Abigail and Brittany Hensel, who share a body but lead a full life.
“The fact Abigail and Brittany in America live a full and happy life fills me with hope for my babies,” said Miss Chamberlain. “I’ve even given 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.”
These two were NOT!
The world’s oldest conjoined twins. Born in 1951, Ronnie, left, and Donnie share a home in Dayton, Ohio. While their “normal” brother, Jim married a woman, Ronnie and Donnie probably never could. In their case, their mother, Maureen Galyon, “had no idea she was expecting two babies – let alone conjoined twins.” Image source: UK tabloid Sun. Image may be subject to copyright.
This is all about “us” having our own kids—whatever the cost!
Mr Pedace, who has been with Miss Chamberlain for eight years, said: “We know it’s going to be very tough but we’re prepared for that as much as we can be. We’ve struggled for so long for the chance to have children. Now we’ve got that chance, we’re not going to throw it away.”
An artist’s impression of Lisa Chamberlain’s embryo. Source UK tabloid Sun. Image may be subject to copyright.
Miss Chamberlain will have to wait until her 20-week scan to find out how many organs her conjoined twins share. © 2009 Associated Newspapers Limited
What do experts say?
- Doctors at Portsmouth’s St Mary’s Hospital advised the couple to abort the twins.
- Professor Lewis Spitz, Britain’s foremost expert on Siamese births, has also advised the couple that the twins should be terminated.
Why don’t the couple heed the expert advice?
Lisa Chamberlain is apparently obsessed with her own genes [hormones,] and her fiancé [unmarried Catholics?], Mike Pedace, is reportedly a staunch Catholic.
As for the discredited teachings of Catholic Church, aren’t so many orphans in your jaundiced world gifts from “God?”
Facts about Conjoined Twins:
- They are NOT “gift(s) from God” or “curse of the Devil.”
- The frequency of conjoined twins is about 1 in 100,000 consecutive births. For a detailed analysis see Note 1.
- Some 40 – 60 percent of the conjoined twins are stillborn.
- Another 35 percent survive for a day. [About 75 percent of all conjoined twins die within 24 hours of birth. ]
No matter how far the medical sciences advance, human mindset seems to be mired in the Dark Ages.
Notes:
1. Epidemiological and clinical analysis of a consecutive series of conjoined twins in Spain – Journal of Pediatric Surgery, Volume 44, Issue 4, Pages 811-820
M. Martínez-Frías, et al.
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