Guest Frank_Nabbit Report post Posted January 22, 2004 http://www.indystar.com/articles/1/113380-3621-009.html Conjoined twins not expected to live By Andy Gammill [email protected] January 21, 2004 Conjoined twins born Tuesday at St. Vincent Hospital in Indianapolis were still in critical condition this morning and aren't expected to survive much longer, one of their doctors said. The girls' parents, Fort Wayne teen-agers, directed doctors not to provide aggressive care, said Dr. Robert Jansen, a neonatologist who was there for the birth. Their breathing was labored, and they had difficulty circulating blood but had not been placed on machines to aid them, he said. "We think their prognosis is poor," Jansen said. "We don't think they'll survive." The parents, April and Rocky McCray of Fort Wayne, spent time with the girls in the neonatal intensive care unit and later in a private room Tuesday, Jansen said. The twins, named Stephanie Nicole and Rebecca Marie, were born joined at the torso but have separate heads. Each has a heart, but they share all other organs, Jansen said. That makes it surgically impossible to separate them. Together they weigh 8 pounds and 5 ounces. "It's hard being able to hold something as precious as Stephanie and Rebecca, and to know their time might be short," said John Boyanowski, the girls' maternal grandfather. Marsha Boyanowski said her daughter was excited to see the babies. "All she could say was, 'Aren't they beautiful?' " The parents did not attend a news briefing on the girls' birth. "It's already more than we hoped for," Marsha Boyanowski said. Between one in every 50,000 and 80,000 pregnancies results in the rare birth defect of twins whose bodies are fused together. Three sets were born in Indiana in 2002, the only year for which statistics were available. The way in which the McCray twins were conjoined is even more rare, happening in about one in 500,000 pregnancies, Jansen said. Most conjoined twins don't survive childbirth, and those who do don't often live much longer. The McCrays were spared the difficult question of whether to separate the twins, a question that medical workers and ethicists wrestle with. When they are separated, one often dies so the other one can live. In 1993, a Jasper County couple, Reitha and Ken Lakeberg, chose to separate their twin daughters, Angela and Amy. Some hospital staff members at Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, Ill., said they would not participate in an operation that killed one child. Eventually, a Philadelphia hospital agreed to the surgery, during which Amy died. Angela died within a year. In July, two of Iranian women died while surgeons tried to separate them Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kkktookmybabyaway 0 Report post Posted January 22, 2004 This deserved a news conference? Leave these people alone... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest FrigidSoul Report post Posted January 22, 2004 They should have given them whacky outrageous names so they would be remembered above all other 2 headed children. I don't see why they name them when they're going to die so very soon...maybe I'm just heartless in matters like this. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Skironox Report post Posted January 22, 2004 What exactly is so groundbreaking about this? Conjoined twins aren't exactly the newest thing on the block. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Styles 0 Report post Posted January 23, 2004 I think under Dr. Tom's definition of news it would have to be the conjoined heads of Michael Jackson and Jimmy Hoffa, to be considered as such... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest netslob Report post Posted January 23, 2004 it may sound callous, but letting them die may be for the best...in this society, it's hard enough to be even a little different, let alone being that different. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jobber of the Week 0 Report post Posted January 23, 2004 Bannable joke? There is one? The only catchphrase around here I can remember that might be bannable from overuse is "BAN PLZ" Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest FrigidSoul Report post Posted January 23, 2004 They should name one of the heads "God" and the other head "Sucks" Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest FrigidSoul Report post Posted January 23, 2004 Also if they did survive and go to school like that a bully might start pushing one head into the other and continuously say "Stop head-butting yourself" Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Downhome 0 Report post Posted January 23, 2004 I thought the "news" part of this was in the way that they are joined, that being two complete heads being on a single body. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Skywarp! 0 Report post Posted January 23, 2004 They should have given them whacky outrageous names so they would be remembered above all other 2 headed children. I don't see why they name them when they're going to die so very soon...maybe I'm just heartless in matters like this. Because despite how short a person's time is, they were still a person who was born into existence on this planet. If you say that their time is too short to bother naming them, then where is the cutoff? Should you give them a name when they live a week? Month? Year? On their 10th birthday? Even if they're babies that are going to die before they are conscious of the dignity of being human, they should still be given the privalege of being named. They'll probably have a little plot or be creamated, and I think the headstone/urn should read more than "The conjoined twins of _____". Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cynicalprofit 0 Report post Posted January 23, 2004 Eh the girls with 1 body and two heads that were/is 11 that was on montel was way more interesting....which of course leads to the following question. If shes got 2 heads and 1 body, and you fuck her, does it count as a three-some? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest FrigidSoul Report post Posted January 23, 2004 They should have given them whacky outrageous names so they would be remembered above all other 2 headed children. I don't see why they name them when they're going to die so very soon...maybe I'm just heartless in matters like this. Because despite how short a person's time is, they were still a person who was born into existence on this planet. If you say that their time is too short to bother naming them, then where is the cutoff? 2 weeks If the doctors know they're not going to live past the first few days then why name them? Pointless as far as I'm concerned. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Skywarp! 0 Report post Posted January 23, 2004 They should have given them whacky outrageous names so they would be remembered above all other 2 headed children. I don't see why they name them when they're going to die so very soon...maybe I'm just heartless in matters like this. Because despite how short a person's time is, they were still a person who was born into existence on this planet. If you say that their time is too short to bother naming them, then where is the cutoff? 2 weeks If the doctors know they're not going to live past the first few days then why name them? Pointless as far as I'm concerned. But it's like saying they weren't people. Just animals, or things. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest netslob Report post Posted January 23, 2004 Eh the girls with 1 body and two heads that were/is 11 that was on montel was way more interesting....which of course leads to the following question. If shes got 2 heads and 1 body, and you fuck her, does it count as a three-some? no, but if you videotape it, you could sell it to Rob Black for MUCHO dollarz!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Frank_Nabbit Report post Posted January 25, 2004 Bannable joke? There is one? The only catchphrase around here I can remember that might be bannable from overuse is "BAN PLZ" I was gonna make a Two Badd joke from the MOTU Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
