Bid to stop Siamese twin op fails

Siamese twins Jodie and Mary are joined at the spine

A last-ditch attempt to stop the operation to separate Siamese twins Jodie and Mary has failed.

The High Court on Friday rejected a move by the Pro-Life Alliance to try to stop the controversial operation going ahead.

A subsequent appeal by the alliance was also rejected.

The twins have been at the centre of legal battle since they were born in August after doctors sought permission from the courts to carry out the operation, despite the parents' opposition.

The parents decided to give up their fight to keep both girls together after a Court of Appeal ruling in favour of surgery.

The Official Solicitor Laurence Oates, who represents the weaker twin Mary, also decided not to appeal against the decision.

But lawyers acting for Bruno Quintavalle, director of the Pro-Life Alliance, lodged an appeal on Friday at the High Court to have the Official Solicitor Laurence Oates removed as Mary's guardian.

Mr Quintavalle put himself forward to act on her behalf.

If he had won the case, he could then have challenged the Court of Appeal's ruling that the operation should go ahead.

However, the appeal was rejected by Dame Elizabeth Butler-Sloss, President of the Family Division, in a private hearing.

A subsequent appeal against that decision was later rejected by Court of Appeal judges Lord Justice Ward and Lord Justice Robert Walker.

They said they were quite satisfied there was "no reasonable prospect of success" in the appeal.

The operation to separate the twins - which will result in the certain death of Mary - is now expected to take pace in mid-November.

Religious objection

The twins' parents, from the Maltese island of Gozo, had fiercely opposed the operation on religious grounds.

The twins are joined at the abdomen, have a fused spine and share the same blood supply.

Jodie has a normal brain, heart, lung and liver. She appears to have a separate bowel, although the twins share a bladder.

She has two normal legs and a dislocated pelvic joint which has made the limbs lie at right angles to the spine.

Mary feeds on Jodie's vital organs to survive. Her heart and lungs are so poorly developed that she is totally dependent on her sister for oxygen and blood circulation.

Doctors believe that Jodie could survive separation because her long-term problems are "functional" rather than life threatening.

However, there is a significant chance that she too could die following the operation.

The only current threat posed to Jodie, say doctors, is that Mary is sapping her strength. They have said that they are prepared to operate early if this threat intensifies.