The parents of conjoined twins have refused to make the agonising choice over which of their babies will survive. The twins, Abdul-Khaliq and Abdul-Rahim, were born in war-torn Yemen in January and are joined from the neck down.
Their rare condition, which is known as parapagus dicephalus, has a low survival rate.
But their father Akram Ali Ahmed, 20, has insisted that he does not want the twins to be separated – or for one of them to be sacrificed to save the other child’s life.
“I want nothing to happen to my children. I don’t want them to be separated and nor for one of them to die for the sake of the other,” he said.
“I want them both in one body. I do not object to what God has given me.”
The twins spent their first few days in an incubator in intensive care at Al-Thawra hospital and are said to be fairly stable so far.
But Faisal al-Babli, head of the children’s department, fears that their health will decline if they are not moved from the war-stricken country.
He is now pleading for funding and assistance to move the children outside of Yemen.
The medical capabilities here are very poor, especially in light of the ongoing war, and the doctors fear the babies will not make it.
