The parents of conjoined twins are grieving for their “little fighters” after they lost their battle for life.
The 2-week-old twins - who had a rare condition called diprosopus - died in hospital yesterday.
Born with separate brains but identical faces on one skull and sharing the same body and organs, the girls had astounded medical experts with their strong wills.
Fewer than 40 human disrosopus babies are known to have been born, and not all of them survived beyond birth.
The girls’ parents, Sydney couple Renee Young and Simon Howie, aptly named their daughters Faith and Hope after they were born on May 8th, weighing just over two kilogram, or just under four and a half pounds.
Renee and Simon, who are parents to seven other children, discovered during their 19-week ultrasound that their babies would be born facing a huge struggle.
“Even though there is only one body, we call them our twins,” Simon said after the birth. “To us, they are our girls and we love them.”
Hope and Faith may have shared the same body, but they had very different personalities, according to their parents.
“Faith tends to cry a little more, while Hope takes after her mum and likes to sleep a lot,” the proud dad said. “Faith blows little bubbles and loves sucking her thumb but Hope prefers the dummy.”
The couple had faced criticism from others who disagreed with their decision to go ahead with the pregnancy, after doctors advised them to terminate the pregnancy.
But Renee said she had “more important things to worry about”.
“Other people’s opinions don’t matter, but it’s sad to hear it. Maybe they are just scared of difference,” she said.
Our thoughts are with Hope and Faith’s parents at this heartbreaking time.
