UPDATE: The “miracle” conjoined twins – named Faith and Hope – have tragically passed away.
The twins were born on May 8, and while they shared a skull and body – they had separate brains.
The girls were born with a rare condition known as disrosopus – and not all babies with this condition will survive beyond birth.
Parents Renee Young and Simon Howie from Sydney have now lost their girls. Previously, Ms Young had said, “If I only get two days with the baby, I only get two days with the baby. At least I had two days.”
Our thoughts are with the family.
Previously, Mamamia reported…
Faith and Hope were the result of an extremely rare condition known as disrosopus, which causes a baby to be born with two faces.
An Australian couple has welcomed conjoined twins who share one body and two faces.
Renee Young gave birth to twin girls Faith and Hope at the Royals Children’s Hospital in Sydney’s east on Thursday via a two-hour caesarean with 30 doctors and midwives attending, A Current Affair reports.
The girls were born with a rare disorder known as diprosopus, which means that baby have two brains and one body, two faces on one skull. The condition, which occurs where the embryo fails to split in the early stages of pregnancy, is so rare that only 35 cases have ever been recorded.
Ms Young, who already has seven children with the twins’ father Simon Howie, told A Current Affair she knew “something was up” at 19 weeks pregnant.
“I went for my scheduled ultrasound appointment and then the sonographer there… sent me straight back to my local GP and my local GP sort of cut the news to us,” Ms Young said.
“I think they’re beautiful and Simon thinks they’re beautiful so really that’s all that matters.”
About one in 30,000-50,000 pregnancies produce a conjoined twin but only one in 200,000 makes it to birth, News.com.au reports.
None of the other documented twins born with diprosopus have survived.
But despite the challenging odds, Ms Young remains positive, saying that she would be glad to have met her baby girls whatever happened.
“If I only get two days with the baby, I only get two days with the baby. At least I had two days,” Ms Young said.
Mr Howie is confident that, no matter, what, “everything will be okay.”
“A little luck, a little bit of faith, a bit of hope, hopefully we’ll come out the other side,” Mr Young told Tracy Grimshaw on A Current Affair.
“As long as they’re fighters and they keep fighting.”
Top Comments
I don't understand why this comment section has become a venue for personal opinions and judgements.... Two loved and very much wanted babies have died and the ONLY sentiment people should be expressing is sorrow. Have some empathy ...
Rest in peace, little angels.