Thursday, 02 July, 2009

Every year one in 10 twins is diagnosed with twin-to-twin transmission syndrome; a rare and often deadly condition where twins share one and the same placenta.

Ronna and Doug Wilson’s baby boys Harrison and Dillon were on the wrong side of those odds.

In her 18th week doctors of Houston’s Texas Children’s Fetal Center diagnosed her with the condition.

They suggested a pre-birth surgery during which the placenta would be split up to create two distinct placentas.

Only 11 institutions in the USA perform the procedure. Only 65% of babies survive the procedure.

The success rate depends largely on how early the condition is diagnosed.

“Our plan is to go in with a very tiny telescope in the sac of the recipient and operate underwater.

We actually take a laser light.

I wish we could get them all early, so we can anticipate the problems”
– Dr. Kenneth Moise, Texas Children’s Fetal Center

The procedure was a complete success.

“He smiles a lot, and he frowns. That’s really the only way we can tell the difference between the two of them.