When to terminate due to birth defects

I found out I was having twins at 9 weeks. My husband and I were so excited. I am now 12 weeks and just had another ultrasound with a obetrician. They have determined the twins are identical and may be sharing the same amiotic sac. (they are not sure at this point as they can't determine a dividing membrane). He has detected some major abnormalities with Twin B however can't determine exactly what the adnormalities are at this point but said it looks very serious. Apparently if something happens to twin B , twin A will likely not make it. It has been suggested to me that I seriouly think about ending the pregancy as the risk of me going into premature labour later is very high and I will most likely lose both of them anyways. Obviously I am sick about this and I looking for advice from anyone?

 

First of all congrats on twins. Second you should check out www.monoamniotic.org this is where I have found a lot of advice. My girls were same sack (monoamniotic) twins. You should also know that ALL twins of this kind are born premature, usually between 32 and 34 weeks gestation. So don't let the thought of premature twins scare you. My girls were born at 31 weeks and have not had any long ter, problems. You should also know that the rate of misdiagnosis with mono twins is very high. Please check out the website listed above you can get a lot of info there. Good Luck and feel free to PM me if you want more info.

 

I could have written Tristen's post above. I too second visiting monoamniotic.org. I too had monoamniotic twins born at 31 weeks and they did fine. best of luck, it sounds like you are in a tough situation right now.

 

I'm so sorry you're going through so much worry right now :hug99: You must be very frightened for your babies! I don't have any advice or experience to share, but I'd definately encourage you to give this some time and even seek a 2nd opinion and more information. I don't understand how they can detect major abnormalities and not know what they abnormalities are? Do you mean they can't name it yet but they know what abnormalities they are seeing?

I'm not sure how early most mono twins' dividing membrane shows, but I know at 12 weeks, ours was still very very faint. and the previous posters are right about premature delivery, but it does not mean that identical twins don't have a chance.

I wish you and your babies the very very best :hug99:

 

QUOTE(Lotus Bliss @ May 10 2007, 09:55 AM) [snapback]250426[/snapback]
I found out I was having twins at 9 weeks. My husband and I were so excited. I am now 12 weeks and just had another ultrasound with a obetrician. They have determined the twins are identical and may be sharing the same amiotic sac. (they are not sure at this point as they can't determine a dividing membrane). He has detected some major abnormalities with Twin B however can't determine exactly what the adnormalities are at this point but said it looks very serious. Apparently if something happens to twin B , twin A will likely not make it. It has been suggested to me that I seriouly think about ending the pregancy as the risk of me going into premature labour later is very high and I will most likely lose both of them anyways. Obviously I am sick about this and I looking for advice from anyone?


Thanks I will check out the website. We any of our twins identical? and were they born healthy? This doctor doesn't even think I will make it past 20 weeks. I just don't believe doctors sometimes.....

 

I am so glad to hear that you will check out the site. As far as being healthy my girls were born at 31 weeks and spent 5 weeks in the NICU. They a few developemental delays (crawling and walking) but they caught up. They are healthy 2 y/o now. Now that is not to say that other people don't have problems and lose their twins but with proper monitoring the rates of having healthy babies are high.

 

My girls were born at 31 weeks (went into PTL), but spent only 3 1/2 weeks in the NICU and have been perfectly healthy.

 

I would definitely get a second opinion with a perinatologist. At one point we were told that dd might have Down's due to calcium deposits seen on the u/s in one of her heart chambers. Well, I delivered at 34 weeks and after 2 weeks in the nicu my girls are absolutely fine today. So, there is hope! :hug99:

 

Please seek a second opinion. I know several people who were given Downs diagnosis and had healthy babies. U/Ss can only tell you so much. I was told by three doctors that Jessy would never make it to birth and if she did she would have disabilities. She is now a healthy 19 month old(a bit under weight and has a mild heart murmur) who is advanced in several areas. As far as membranes go they had trouble seeing mine at 24 weeks let alone 12.

 

QUOTE(Lotus Bliss @ May 12 2007, 11:07 AM) [snapback]252845[/snapback]
Thanks I will check out the website. We any of our twins identical? and were they born healthy? This doctor doesn't even think I will make it past 20 weeks. I just don't believe doctors sometimes.....

I will pray for you! Give us an update.

 

I agree with pp, you may need to seek a second opinion!

It makes me so sad and a bit angry to hear that the doctor has already told you to think about terminating. My girls were in different sacs but my littlest one-B- was not growing very slowly. They told us that she may decelerate the growth of -A- and that we should think about cutting her out. We decided instead to go in once a week for ultrasounds to watch how they were progressing and it paid off. I have both of my babies! Please give your little ones a chance, amazing things can happen if you let nature run its course.

 

Yes definitely get a second opinion. I think that most the ladies that wrote back to you have identical twins. Twins that share a placenta and sac (mono/mono) are always identical. Twins that share a placenta, but have two different sacs (mono/di) are always identical. Twins that have separate placentas and separate sacs (di/di) can be either identical or fraternal.

I'll be praying for you and your babies.