Separated conjoined twins, Allison and Amelia Tucker, doing well, as mother reflects on doctor telling her to abort them
Conjoined babies are a high risk pregnancy and many must have endure a dangerous surgery after birth, as is the case with Allison and Amelia Tucker.
Their mother, Shellie Tucker, talked with ABC, giving an update on the girls and reflecting on the doctor’s advice to abort the girls.
Tucker and her husband, Greg, were told in November 2011, when Shellie was five-months pregnant, that their daughters were conjoined. An obstetrician who handles high-risk pregnancies told the couple that the girls would likely not be separated successfully and advised them to terminate the pregnancy.
“As he was telling me, I could literally feel the girls kicking in my belly and I knew that that wasn’t something possible,” Tucker said.
The Tuckers got a second opinion and delivered the girls in March 2012. The family lived at the hospital with the conjoined twins as doctors prepared for the surgery by “practicing on two dolls sewn together.
“The actual walk-through started with actual baby dolls that didn’t really look as cute as the girls but helped us out,” pediatric surgeon Dr. Holly Hedrick said at a news conference one month after the surgery.
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On November 7, the seven-hour surgery was a success and Allison and Amelia were separated.
“Seeing them for the first time as two separate girls was really the most amazing feeling,” said Greg Tucker.
“Seeing the girls and seeing them climb and get in to things, as aggravated as I get I can’t help but laugh because they’re an absolute miracle,” said Shellie Tucker.
“I’m thankful for every single day,” she said. “I can’t describe it.”
Photos are screenshots from great video coverage by ABC: HERE
