Couple Expecting Triplets Forced To Sacrifice Conjoined Twins To Save Other Baby

                                             

A couple who were expecting triplets were forced to sacrifice their conjoined twins in order to save their other baby.

Jemma Haig, 20, and her fiancé Murray McKirdy were over the moon when a routine scan revealed that they were expecting not one but three babies last year via natural conception.

But the couple's joy soon became heartbreak as doctors told the pair from Tranent, East Lothian, that not all of their babies would survive.

Staff at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary gave the couple two options: have a selective reduction to remove the twins or lose all three babies. Jemma and Murray decided to remove the twins because she didn't want them to suffer.

A scan revealed that Jemma was carrying two amniotic sacs - one contained the embryo of her son Thomas and the other contained conjoined twins.

The conjoined twins were joined at the chest so shared a heart, respiratory system and digestive system. However doctors told them that the odds of twins joined in this way surviving was 'one in half a million'.

Jemma said that she did not want them to suffer, explaining: 'We came to the informed decision to have a selective reduction of our conjoined twins as we couldn't bear to make them suffer.

We knew that procedure carried risks of miscarriage of all foetuses and premature birth but we just hoped and prayed for the best.'

Following a bleed, Jemma was admitted to hospital. As the days went on, the bleeding worsened and the doctors feared that it was placental abruption because her blood count was dropping considerably.

Thomas was born via emergency c-section, weighing 4lb 10oz.