A woman from Minnesota gave birth on Wednesday, Aug. 26, to conjoined twins, Hannah and Olivia, via cesarean section, at the Children's Hospital Colorado. However, after immediately separating them through a five-hour surgery, Olivia died while leaving Hannah in critical condition, according to a report from The Market Business.
It was a tough decision for the mother, Amber McCullough. According to Pulse Headlines, during the second trimester of her pregnancy, doctors told her that she was having conjoined twins. However, things turned for the worse when the doctors said that one of the twins will not survive because she had a heart, but it was not functioning. The organ had missing valves and only one ventricle.
McCullough, who was a captain of the US Army Reserves and a Minneapolis attorney for the victims of domestic violence, said that given the chance, she would keep both Hannah and Olivia alive. However, even saving one of her girls was "worth the risk" than losing both of them. The twins shared an abdomen, liver and intestinal tract.
According to a Facebook post by McCullough, because of how the twins are conjoined, the team of doctors "had to carefully assess where the best incision site or rather dividing plain should be. An important part of this decision takes into account how to close Hannah, to ensure they are able to. With this in mind, lets just say that part of Olivia must be used to close Hannah’s chest."
In an effort to save both of her daughters, the mother started a GoFundMe account, which raised almost $28,000 at press time, only $2,000 short of her $30,000 goal. According to the account's description, Amber, a single mother with a six-year-old son, has already exhausted all of her resources, and is "struggling to keep a roof." However, even with money running out, according to her, "I cannot euthenize my daughters just because it would be more financially convenient."
KRWG News 22 reports that McCullough has been living at the Ronald McDonald House since early August with her stepmother.
University of Maryland Medical Center states the occurrence of conjoined twins is one in every 200,000 births, and surgical separations are rare. Also, 40 to 60 percent of the time, the twins are delivered stillborn, and the overall survival rate is between five and 25 percent.
The report further notes that female twins have the possibility to survive more. Around 70 percent of cases of conjured twins are females.
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