LONDON — Two medical specialists appointed by an appeals court believe a pair of Siamese twins should be surgically separated, though it will mean one dies, an attorney representing the weaker twin said Wednesday.
The twins, identified in court under the pseudonyms Jodie and Mary, were born in Manchester last month. Their parents, who are Roman Catholics from an unidentified Eastern European country, are appealing a lower court's decision that the girls should be separated.
A medical team at Manchester's St. Mary's Hospital says Jodie could live a normal life if separated from Mary. If not, they say it is highly probable both twins will die within six months as Jodie's heart fails.
The appeals court appointed a surgeon with experience in separating conjoined twins and a pediatric cardiologist to examine the girls.
"The situation is that the two consultants . . . in broad outline, support the opinion of the team from St. Mary's," David Harris, a lawyer appointed to represent Mary's interests, told the court Wednesday.
Harris said the consultants and the doctors in Manchester had "some differences in detail" but did not elaborate. He said the specialists would submit a written report.
Harris said Mary had an interest in continuing her life unless proven otherwise.
"Although this is a life of short duration very severely handicapped, there is insufficient evidence that it is so intolerable as to render it in the child's best interests that it should end," he said.
Responded Lord Justice Alan Ward: "You invite us to treat her as a single independent life when everyone knows that if she had been born a single person she would have been left to die."
"She is unnaturally hooked onto her sister, draining her sister's life and, in the end, is going to kill her sister," Ward said.
The hearing was adjourned until Sept. 13.