Doctors set out to terminate tiny Gabriel in the womb to save his healthy twin brother’s life … but he had other ideas.
They say the bond between twins is strong — and the bond between brothers Gabriel and Ieuan Jones simply couldn’t be broken.
On expert medical advice, the boys’ parents had made a heartbreaking decision to sacrifice a sickly Gabriel in the womb to ensure Ieuan’s survival. But after the operation meant to end his life, tenacious Gabriel showed he had other ideas.
Rebecca Jones, 35, and her husband Mark, 36, were thrilled to discover they were expecting identical twins at a 10-week scan. They already had a six-year-old son, Kian, but had been trying for a second baby for years.
“When we saw two blobs on the screen and they told us we were having twins, we were just over the moon,” recalls their proud mum.
But at the 20-week scan, doctors gave them devastating news — Gabriel was only half the size of his brother. For some unknown reason, he wasn’t getting enough nutrients from the placenta he shared with his identical twin.
Even worse, Gabriel’s heart was enlarged to three times its normal size and it was likely he’d suffer a heart attack or stroke and die in the womb.
“They told us that if he died, it could be life-threatening for his brother, too. We had to make a decision whether to end his life and let his brother live, or risk them both dying,” says an emotional Rebecca.
Story and pictures: Worldwidefeatures.com.
For the rest of this amazing story, see this week’s issue of Woman’s Day (on sale March 10, 2008).
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