Mom Gives Birth to Conjoined Twins, “Baby With Two Faces,” After Refusing Abortion

International   |   Steven Ertelt   |   May 12, 2014   |   6:01PM   |   Washington, DC

A mother in Australia who LifeNews previously profiled as preparing to give birth to conjoined twins — who share one body but have two faces — has finally given birth after refusing to have an abortion.

Renee Young and Simon Howie of Sydney said that a routine ultrasound found problems with their baby’s development and that the twins they were expecting were actually conjoined twins with a rare medical condition. The twins has a condition known as diprosopus, or craniofacial duplication, a condition whereby parts or all of the face are duplicated on the head. It is so rare, according to a report on the couple and their babies, that just 35 cases have been recorded in humans and no one is alive today who has it.

twins22The parents rejected the suggestion of abortion, saying every day they get with their daughter, who may die shortly after birth, is a blessing.

Before birth, three-dimensional scans showed the children have two legs, two arms and one body and all their vital organs, including a strong beating heart. But above the neck, the children have two faces on one skull, an exact duplication of eyes, nose and mouth, and two brains connected with one brain stem.

“It’d be the same as being a child with autism or down syndrome … I don’t believe in terminating the baby if it’s healthy and growing fine, and everything is going to plan,” Mr Howie said. “Renee was the same.”

Howie said doctors disagreed, urging the parents of seven to terminate their unborn children “because it would be looked upon as a freak”.

Here’s more on the birth:

An Australian woman has miraculously given birth to conjoined twins with one body and two heads despite doctors initially telling them to terminate the pregnancy.

Renee Young and her partner Simon Howie, of Tregear in Sydney’s west, welcomed their daughters on Thursday six weeks before they were due.

The couple, who found out via an ultrasound that the twins they were expecting was in fact one child with two symmetrical faces and two brains connected by the one brain stem, said doctors were shocked by the girls’ exceptional progress.

‘They are breathing perfectly on their own and feeding,’ Mr Howie told Woman’s Day.

Ms Young gave birth to the girls, named Faith and Hope, via an emergency caesarean at Blacktown Hospital last Thursday.

The girls were born with a rare condition called diprosopus, which means they share the same body and vital organs but have their own faces and brains which are connected by only one brain stem.

‘Even though there is only one body, we call them our twins. To us, they are our girls and we love them,’ Mr Howie said.

Faith and Hope were born with a rare condition called diprosopus, which means they share the same body and organs but have separate brains and two faces