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Catholic couple refuse to abort siamese twins

Published: January 13, 2009

A British Catholic woman, who is pregnant with rare dicephalous twins, and her husband have refused to contemplate an abortion despite medical advice to do so.

Total Catholic reports the Portsmouth woman has spoke of her desire to see them born.

Lisa Chamberlain, 25, had a scan last week which showed her embryo had two heads and one body, making them dicephalus twins.

The staunch Catholic said doctors advised her to undergo an abortion, but this was ruled out after talking over the matter with husband Mike.

Mrs Chamberlain said: "To me, my twins are a gift from God and we're determined to give them a chance of life."

The twins were diagnosed after the former RSPCA worker was taken into the city's St Mary's Hospital on Wednesday with back pain. She had fallen pregnant on December 18.

She added: "Some might think my twins are strange, but to me they're just special. Everything happens for a reason. Mike and I have spent over seven years trying to have children and we might not get another go."

The couple hope the babies will follow the example of US Siamese twins Abigail and Brittany Hensel. They were born in March 1990 with shared organs below the navel and are still alive.

But conjoined twins expert Professor Lewis Spitz said that Mrs Chamberlain's embryo should be terminated.

They would have a greater risk of infection, he said, and have two heads controlling one side of the body's nervous impulses.

SOURCE 

Catholic refuses to abort 'rare' Siamese twins (Total Catholic)

 

 

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Recent Comments

  1. May the good Lord continue to bless this couple. The whole family will be prayed for in my prayers.

  2. A mere 20 days after fertilisation (18 Dec to 7 Jan), a scan clearly shows the features of the baby's body. So much for the argument that babies up to 20 WEEKS old are just a sub-human "blob of cells".

  3. "But conjoined twins expert Professor Lewis Spitz said that Mrs Chamberlain's embryo should be terminated.

    They would have a greater risk of infection, he said, and have two heads controlling one side of the body's nervous impulses."


    So the 'conjoined twins expert' said the embryo should be terminated because of future increased health risks, not to the mother, but for the individuals now at the beginning of their journey through life.

    Heaven knows how many abortions take place because experts believe this best.

  4. Only God who can take someone's life. I truly respect the married couple's decision to see the twins grow regardless of their 'poor' condition. May God bless this family.

  5. If asked retrospectively, how many people with disabilities of one kind or another would choose to have been aborted? Certainly, the twins' lives will be unusual, but for Catholic parents who follow their faith there is only one option. Nevertheless it takes courage to stand up for one's beliefs, especially when arguing with "experts". May God bless them and the twins, who might be the only children they will ever have.

  6. As Mrs chamberlain said, eveything happens for a reason. Our children are our future and good on her for deciding to keep the twins.

Delicious

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