By Hilary White
LONDON, November 5, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) – After two attempts by doctors to end his life in the womb, Gabriel Jones refused to die and was born along with his twin brother.
The twins' mother, Rebecca Jones, told the Daily Mail, "It really is a miracle. Doctors carried out an operation to let Gabriel die - yet he hung on. It was unbelievable."
When Rebecca and Mark Jones' twin boys were at 20 weeks gestation, Doctors told them that a scan showed Gabriel had an enlarged heart and was only half the size of his brother. They said that Gabriel condition could threaten the life of his brother and that he was unlikely to survive outside the womb. Gabriel and Ieuan are now both seven months old, weighing, respectively, 12lb 6oz and 15lb.
At the first attempt to end Gabriel's life, doctors tried unsuccessfully to sever his umbilical cord but it proved too thick to cut. Doctors then decided to cut the placenta in two to separate the two brothers' food and oxygen supplies but were stunned to find the boy's heart still beating the next day. Rebecca told the Daily Mail that dividing the placenta had redistributed the children's nutrition supply, allowing Gabriel to grow stronger.
Gabriel and Ieuan were born by caesarean section five weeks after the surgery.
The UK's Daily Mail carries a two-page photo spread showing Ieuan and Gabriel holding hands. Both children are perfectly healthy. Doctors had told the boys parents that Gabriel would not be able to live after birth and that it would "be kinder to let him die in the womb."
Rebecca Jones told the Daily Mail, "Doctors carried out an operation to let Gabriel die - - - yet he hung on. It was unbelievable. When I felt him kicking madly the morning after the operation, I suddenly knew that he was going to hang on."
"There is such a strong bond between them," she said. "They are always holding hands and if one cries, the other reaches out to comfort him. Doctors tried to break their bond in the womb, but they just proved it couldn't be broken."
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"In Cordibus Jesu et Mariae"
