Bethany and Alyssa are conjoined twins, joined through 10 cm of bone at the head. They have separate brains but they share veins across the skull. They also share Alyssa's single kidney and Bethany has no bladder. Doctors at the Royal Brisbane Hospital in Queensland, Australia, told Shaun and Mary all this when they discovered Mary was pregnant with conjoined twins. The odds were rough but clear: a 33% chance both twins would survive, 33% chance one daughter would die, 33% chance neither Bethany nor Alyssa would survive the operation to separate them.
The programme joins Shaun and Mary and their family of three young sons a little over half way through the pregnancy – the expectation and apprehension, realism coloured by the hope that things won’t turn out as bad as the doctors fear.
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