Fears grow for UK conjoined twins

The twins share one heart and one liver

LONDON, England -- Doctors say they have decided "at present" not to separate a set of conjoined twins born in London on Monday, due to the complexity of their condition.

The twin girls, Natasha and Courtney Smith, share one heart and one liver and are being closely monitored at London's Great Ormand Street Hospital.

Courtney is certain to die in any separation operation and Natasha's survival would also hang in the balance.

Professor Lewis Spitz, who is in charge of their care, told the Press Association a decision on an operation would be taken once a review of the heart had taken place.

He said: "We have carefully studied the twins' medical condition, in particular, the way they are joined at the heart.

"They currently share a heart and other vital organs which would make separation and repair extremely difficult.

"Our investigation indicates that the abnormalities of the vessels leading to the heart are so complex that repair is virtually impossible. In their current state the chances of a successful outcome are very slim."

As the heart is more in Natasha's body than Courtney's, Natasha had been chosen to survive in any operation to separate the pair.

Dr. Helena Gardiner, a perinatal cardiologist, had said earlier: "It's a complicated heart and perhaps more complicated than we understand at the moment.

"There are some parts of the circulation we need to investigate further before the surgery can take place."

Professor Nicholas Fisk, the surgeon who led the team that delivered the twins at Queen Charlotte's hospital in west London, said the parents, Tina May and Dennis Smith from St. Albans, north of London, had been prepared in advance that one of their babies may have to die.

Prof Fisk lead the team that delivered the conjoined girls

He said: "This was a possibility they have been entertaining for months. It's a very traumatic time for them.

"Seeing the babies for the first time was quite an emotional moment.

"Until yesterday they have only seen them on the ultrasound screen, and there was something special about looking at them joined at the chest."

Fisk said both girls -- who were born at 10.47 a.m. on Monday (0947 GMT) weighing 4.42 kg (9 pounds 12 ounces) -- were "stable" and the mother was "doing well." The twins were delivered by Caesarean section.

"When I saw them for the first time they looked so beautiful that I melted with love for them," their mother told The Sun newspaper.

"But my happiness is tinged with the agony of knowing the ordeal that lies ahead for us all."

In a similar case last year, British judges ruled that an operation should go ahead to separate conjoined twins Gracie and Rosie Attard from the tiny Mediterranean island of Gozo, after their mother came to the UK for treatment.

Gracie and Rosie's parents had opposed surgery because it was known that Rosie would die. The surviving twin, Gracie, is now expected to lead a normal life.