A married couple have spoken of their delight at their “healthy and well” twin daughters, after refusing abortion.
Steve and Carmelle Hartgrove were told of a possible problem early on in the pregnancy and then offered an abortion – either for both babies or one of them.
But Carmelle said: “How could I choose between the two?” commenting: “I would always look at the twin which survived and think ‘I killed someone to save you'”.
Charis and Connie
The couple instantly decided against any abortion and have now told the media about their twins – Charis and Connie.
Medics offered an abortion because the babies shared an amniotic sac and placenta. In the Hartgrove’s case there was a 30 per cent chance of survival.
However, Carmelle said: “In the end, it was not a difficult decision. A 30 per cent chance of survival was good enough for me.”
Huddled up
She described the following weeks of the pregnancy as “very stressful”, as she was worried the pair would not survive.
In 2013, the twins were born by caesarean section at 32 weeks. They each weighed just over 4lbs and needed three weeks of special care.
Carmelle told of how close the twins are to each other: “When they were newborns they used to sleep huddled up next to each other like they did in the womb.
United
“Even now they are in separate beds they will climb into each other’s cots in the morning.”
Describing the moment they decided not to abort one or both of their children, Carmelle said, “Steve and I didn’t even need to have that conversation – we were united on the decision without having to discuss it.”
