Australian TV star's twins almost conjoined

Australian television presenter Kim Watkins and husband Simon Tornya have spoken to Woman’s Day about the anxious wait during their first pregnancy. Kim, pregnant with twins, was told that the pregnancy had a 50/50 chance of making it due to a rare condition:

There was no sugar-coating. We were told that they were monoamniotic monochorionic twins. It basically means they are identical twins, but the egg split so late in the process no membrane had formed between them. The next step on from ours was conjoined twins. They were perhaps minutes, perhaps hours away from being conjoined.

The couple didn’t tell any friends or family before the birth, needing time to absorb the information, and Kim didn’t want the extra stress,

It was hard enough for me to breathe just thinking about it. When they arrived I wasn’t excited, I wasn’t ecstatic. I was just relieved they were alive.

The twins, Ripley and Cameron, are now healthy four year olds, and big sister to two year old Ziggy.

Source: S from The Sun Herald, February 11 2007, page S3.

According to Robin Elise Weiss, of About: Pregnancy/Birth – Monoamniotic, Monochorionic twins (MoMo) are rare.  It can only occur in identical twins, and happens when there is not membrane between the babies.  This can lead to dangers like cord entanglement, Twin-to-Twin Transfusion Syndrome (TTTS), and other complications.  The majority of MoMo twins are delivered via cesarean very early intentionally.

Click for a photo of a MoMo twin placenta.

Comments

Oh my goodness that’s quite the story! Knowing you could have conjoined twins is quite the shock indeed, I would imagine! I’m glad for her sake her twins weren’t conjoined, but still it’s rather interesting and scary knowing that they might’ve been. Ah the wonders of technology to even be to know that, that early on.

- Autumn on February 13th, 2007

I love that Kim is now hosting the docu-drama-reality show “Saving Babies” where the film crew goes into the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, I think!) at one of the major hospitals in Australia and tells the stories of other babies in trouble. The thing is though, that all the stories have happy endings. Kim wanted inspirational stories for those people who may go through similar situations. Good on her for using her own story to give hope to others.

- Lilybett on February 13th, 2007

Ripley and Ziggy??? Geez, these kids will grow up to have issues.

- Maximum Big Surprise on February 13th, 2007

So the twins are girls? What about Ziggy? Male or female?

- Amandalinn on February 14th, 2007

Amanda: Yes, the twins are girls; and Ziggy is also a girl.

They are definitely very unique names!

- Kirrily on February 14th, 2007

Monoamniotic twins are a growing concern – but doctors still do not know why they occur.

It used to be thought that monoamniotic twinning occurs in only 1% of all identical twins, or about 1 in every 25,000 pregnancies or so. Now, it is believed that the rate is higher.

The 50/50 loss statistic is based on old information. If there is no medical intervention, a 50% loss rate is relatively accurate. However, with aggressive in-patient monitoring (24 weeks onward), elective pre-term delivery (between 32 and 34 weeks) and the modern Neonatal ICU, a much higher percentage of these babies are making it home.

Support for those who have been diagnosed with monoamniotic twins is available at http://www.monoamniotic.org

– Nick Giacobe
Webmaster of http://www.monoamniotic.org

- Nick Giacobe on February 18th, 2007