Parents of Conjoined Twins Won’t Appeal Surgery Order

The parents of conjoined twin girls have decided not to appeal a court ruling ordering surgery to separate the two, lawyers for the family said Thursday.

Doctors said surgery could allow one twin, known as Jodie, to have a normal life, but that her sister, Mary, would not survive the surgery. If the girls are not separated, doctors said, they will both die within months.

“The parents, having taken this case to two courts before four judges--whose decision was unanimous--feel they have done the best they can for both daughters and are unable to take this any further,” said John Kitchingman, lawyer for the parents.

There was no immediate indication when the surgery might be done.

The parents, identified only as Roman Catholics from the Maltese island of Gozo in the Mediterranean, came to Manchester for the Aug. 8 birth of the twins, who were joined at the lower abdomen.

Official Solicitor Laurence Oates, who represented Mary before the Court of Appeal, said he decided against appealing to the House of Lords after being told that the parents did not want to do so.

“As the judgments repeatedly emphasize, [the Court of Appeal’s] decision is specific to the unique and tragic facts of this case,” Oates said.

The official solicitor represents minors in court cases.

Three judges of the Court of Appeal ruled last Friday that the case came down to an issue of self-defense--the right of the stronger twin to be released from a sister who would eventually kill them both.