Beaming smiles of baby twins saved by laser op BEFORE they were born
THEY are now almost impossible to tell apart, with the same smiling blue eyes and infectious laughs.
But a rare condition caused Ollie MacDonald to grow faster than his identical twin Leo during pregnancy, meaning they both almost died.
Now ten months old, they were saved in the womb by pioneering surgery carried out with a laser.
The boys were diagnosed during a 17-week scan with twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome (TTTS), which affects 15 per cent of identical twins when they share a placenta and blood supply.
Their parents, Kirsty Telfer, 23, and Corey MacDonald, 24, from Dumfries, were faced with an agonising decision: if they went ahead
‘It was one of the most stressful days of my life’
with surgery, there was a one in three chance both twins would survive, a one in three chance only one would make it, and a one in three chance they would lose both. Yet if they did nothing, there was a 95 per cent risk their sons would not survive.
‘It was a terrible choice,’ said Miss Telfer. ‘It was one of the most stressful days of my life.’
The condition means one twin – in this case Ollie – gets too much blood, leading to potential heart failure, while the other gets too little, affecting his growth and survival. Within 24 hours, the ground-breaking surgery, known as fetoscopic laser treatment, was carried out by consultant obstetrician Dr Janice Gibson at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital’s Fetal Medicine Unit in Glasgow. Dr Gibson, the only person in Scotland qualified to carry out the procedure, has been pioneering the surgery in Glasgow since June 2014. During the 30 minute keyhole operation, performed under local anaesthetic, a tiny incision is made in the mother’s abdomen, and a tube passed through into the larger of the two foetal sacs. An ultrasound camera is then used to identify ‘rogue’ blood vessels linking the babies, before these are lasered to seal them off.
Miss Telfer, a shop assistant, said: ‘I was very nervous but Dr Gibson was brilliant. I couldn’t see what was happening but I could hear a sound like popcorn exploding. I prayed the babies wouldn’t move and get caught by the laser.’
Dr Gibson has treated around 30 sets of twins, with mixed results. She said: ‘No two surgeries are the same. It’s not a simple procedure and the ladies who agree to have it done are incredibly brave.
‘It’s not for the fainthearted – for me or for them – and success isn’t always guaranteed, so when both twins survive, like Ollie and Leo, it’s an amazing feeling.
‘I have a wall in my office with photographs of some of the babies I’ve managed to save. If I’ve had a bad day, I look at their little faces and it cheers me up.’
Ollie and Leo arrived three months early on May 6. Ollie, weighing 2lb 9oz, and Leo, at 2lb 6oz, were whisked away to the neonatal unit where they would remain for 19 weeks, suffering from chronic lung problems.
The twins were 88 days old before Miss Telfer and Mr MacDonald, a breakdown recovery driver, were finally able to hold them for the first time.
Ollie, who suffered an enlarged heart in the womb due to TTTS, continues to have scans every six months. Leo still requires oxygen 24 hours a day, though Ollie’s has been reduced to night-time only.
Miss Telfer said: ‘I feel so grateful to have both boys with me. They are my little miracles. Without the laser surgery, they wouldn’t both be here. I can’t thank everyone enough.’