Northern Ireland mother Laura Watson felt “over the moon” when she learned that she was pregnant with twins in the spring of 2022.
But her joy quickly turned to devastation a few weeks later after her daughters were diagnosed with twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome, Live Action News reports.
“They were effectively killing each other in the womb,” she said. “I was told I could do nothing and most likely loose both of them or have a surgery with a 30 percent survival rate. I was even asked if I wanted to terminate the pregnancy.”
Watson chose life for her daughters anyway, and she is glad she did. Today, the girls are healthy, growing 9-month-olds who love to play, Watson told Wales Online.
It was last April when Watson learned that she was pregnant with her second child. She said she and her partner, James Weir, felt “over the moon” when they found out that their baby was actually twins.
About half way into her pregnancy, however, an ultrasound scan found a problem. Doctors told Watson that her unborn girls had twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome, and one baby was receiving more blood and nutrients than the other. As a result, one or both of the girls could die, according to the report.
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Rather than give the girls a chance at life, doctors suggested that Watson have an abortion. Frequently, parents say doctors are quick to encourage abortion after their unborn baby receives a poor prenatal diagnosis. One Australian mother even accused a doctor of scheduling an abortion for her unborn son with Down syndrome without asking her. In cases of twins or multiples, other parents said their doctors recommended “selective reduction,” meaning aborting one or more unborn baby to supposedly give the other siblings a better chance at life.
In Watson’s case, the doctor basically presented abortion as her best option.
“Nothing can prepare you to hear doctors give terminating your pregnancy as a suggestion. I wasn’t given any good choices. I was terrified — everything happened so fast,” she said.
But she knew that her daughters’ lives were valuable. So, she flew to England to undergo surgery with the hope of giving her girls a better chance of survival. At St. George’s Hospital in London, doctors performed an intrauterine laser ablation surgery to correct the flow of blood and nutrients to the twins, according to the report.
The surgery went well, but their mother said the twins continued to struggle. Several weeks later, doctors decided that one twin was growing more than the other, and they needed to be born if they were going to survive.
On Oct. 3, 2022, twins Meabh and Clodagh were born prematurely via cesarean section, weighing 1 pound, 6 ounces and 2 pounds, 8 ounces. After several months in the hospital, they grew well enough to go home in time for Christmas, their mother said.
“… now they are here, and they are happy, and I still can’t believe it,” Watson said. “Anytime they’re together, they hold hands and play or interact in any other way. They have a clear connection, and it’s amazing to see. … They’re a lot of work, but it’s worth it.”
