Conjoined Twins Who Share a Head Are Christened Hope and Faith, Continue to Surprise Doctors
A set of twin girls, who share a head but have separate faces and brains, are defying the odds and were Christened with the names Hope and Faith by their parents. According to their parents, Hope and Faith already exhibit distinct personalities, and they stand firmly by their decision to welcome the girls into the world instead of having an abortion.
"Faith tends to cry a little more, while Hope takes after her mum and likes to sleep a lot," Simon Howie said of his baby girls. "Faith blows little bubbles and loves sucking her thumb but Hope prefers the dummy [pacifier]," he told "Woman's Day" magazine.
The girls are not even two weeks old but have gained an international following after being born by Cesarean section. They are only one in 35 surviving cases of diprosopus, which means that they share a body, heart, limbs and skull but have their own brains and faces.
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The couple was originally encouraged to have an abortion when they learned of the condition but were determined to see their girls enter the world and spend as much time with them as possible.
"I try not to listen to what people have to say," Howie told "Woman's Day" of the public criticism of their decision. "I have more important things to worry about. Other people's opinions don't matter, but it's sad to hear it. Maybe they are just scared of difference."
The baby girls are doing well and breathing on their own, a sign that they are growing stronger and surprising doctors.
"You have to see it to believe it," mom Renee Young said of the girls' personalities. "Sometimes Faith will cry and wake Hope up, who then looks sideways as if to say, 'Thanks for that.' We are blessed we've got this far. I just find them adorable."
The girls have beaten remarkable odds but doctors are still unsure what to expect for their future, as their condition is so incredibly rare.
