Siamese twins 'must be separated'

The ruling was made by Mr Justice Johnson

A High Court judge has given surgeons permission to separate Siamese twins against the wishes of their parents, in a landmark ruling.

The parents of the twin girls, who come from a remote community in Eastern Europe, had objected to the operation on the grounds that it will mean the death of one of their babies.

The twin girls, Jodie and Mary - false names used by the judge to preserve their anonymity - were born on 8 August at St Mary's Hospital in Manchester and are joined by their lower abdomens.

The girls share one heart and one pair of lungs. If the operation goes ahead to separate them, Mary will die.

In the first ruling of its kind in the UK, Mr Justice Johnson said he made his decision to approve the operation on the grounds that if the girls were not separated, both would die within months.

This is because Jodie's heart and lungs will not be able to take the strain of supporting her sister's body.

Why should we kill one of our daughters to enable the other one to survive?

Father and mother of the twins

But in their submission to the court, the girls' parents said they could not contemplate the death of one of their babies.

"We cannot begin to accept or contemplate that one of our children should die to enable the other one to survive. That is not God's will.

"Everyone has the right to life, so why should we kill one of our daughters to enable the other one to survive?

"That is not what we want and that is what we have told the doctors treating Jodie and Mary."

They added: "We have very strong feelings that neither of our children should receive any medical treatment.

"We certainly do not want separation surgery to go ahead as we know and have been told very clearly that it will result in the death of our daughter, Mary."

Bright and alert

The girls are being treated at St Mary's Hospital, Manchester

The judge said of the twins: "Jodie is a bright, alert baby, sparkling, sucking on her dummy, moving her arms as babies do and, in the words of one of the doctors, `Very much a with-it sort of baby'."

"For Mary, things are very different. Her face is deformed but more importantly she has no effective heart or lung function. She lives only because of her physical attachment to Jodie.

"The blood and the oxygen that maintain her life come from Jodie. In the words of one of the doctors, Jodie is her life support machine."

Simplistic

Dr Richard Nicholson has questioned the judgement

Dr Richard Nicholson, editor of the Bulletin of Medical Ethics, described the decision as simplistic.

"The English court's duty is to put the interests of the child first but there are two children here and it really seems a frankly simplistic decision to say it's all right to kill one to save the other."

He added: "It may just be that there are times when perhaps the parents are right and no human institution should be making this choice between babies."

A spokesman for the parents said they were now considering whether to take the case to the Court of Appeal.