When doctors told Chelsea Torres that she was carrying conjoined twins, they warned her that the babies probably would not survive past the first trimester.
Doctors encouraged Torres and her husband, Nick, of Blackfoot, Idaho, to consider having an abortion, The Daily Mail reports. They refused.
The Idaho parents now are so thankful that they did not listen to their doctors’ advice. Their twin girls, Callie and Carter, were born in January, and they are doing well, according to the report.
Here’s more from the report:
Callie and Carter are omphalo-ischiopagus twins, which make up less than five per cent of conjoined twins.
This means they have just two legs and one pelvis between them, but have two separate torsos that face each other.
SUPPORT PRO-LIFE NEWS! Please help LifeNews.com with a donation during our Spring fundraising campaign
The girls do not appear to share any vital organs.
Today, the girls are three months old and healthy. The family said Callie and Carter are doing so well that doctors do not recommend separating them.
Daily living is more difficult with conjoined twins. The twins require a lot of custom-made things, like car seats and clothes. Chelsea said she sews clothing together to fit the twins.
She said a few people stare when they see the twins, but most are very supportive.
“I’m so happy I didn’t terminate Callie and Carter, they are amazing,” their mother told the Mail. “I knew termination would not happen and I’m glad that little speck of thought I did have, I pushed away.”
Research from the University of Maryland indicates that between 40 percent and 60 percent of conjoined twins are stillborn.
But the length of a child’s life inside or outside the womb should not justify killing them. Too often, parents are pressured to abort their unborn babies because of a disability or a short lifespan.
In the case of Callie and Carter, the odds were against them; but because their parents chose life, they are alive and well today. Stories like the Torres family’s demonstrate why every unborn baby deserves a chance to live.
UPDATE: 10/19/18: They are doing great a year and a half later.
