It’s a very tough call in many cases, because small details in anatomy can make a huge difference, and it’s often not possible to discover all the important details before birth, or at least very advanced stages of the pregnancy. This case sounds like it will probably turn out poorly, as I can’t imagine that there’s any possibility of separating twins with fused brain stems (apart from simply choosing to sacrifice one of them, and even then it would be iffy). I’m sure they’re adorable as babies, but they’re not going to stay babies, and life may be very miserable for them and their caretakers.
You probably recall the case a few years back of adult female Iranian twins who were joined at the head. On paper, they were doing great. They’d finished college, and one had finished law school (necessarily with the other tagging along), and apparently were healthy enough that they could expect a normal lifespan. Only problem was that they were so miserable that they preferred to take the huge risk of death that came with separation surgery, over continuing to live that way. And sadly, they both died almost immediately after the surgery.
On the other hand, you look at Abigail and Brittany Hensel, and they’re doing great at age 17, and reportedly have no interest in being separated. They’re quite unusual physically, in that while they’re basically two torsos and heads on one pelvis and set of legs, they have a two fully developed hearts so they’re healthy and have plenty of energy. This, and the fact that the nature of their anatomy makes it possible for them to get around easily, seems to make the situation very manageable.
In the end, I think these decisions must be left to the parents, after the medical professionals have provided them as much information as possible. It is really crude of this doctor to publicly write specifically about these twins. He could get any important points across by writing in the abstract about specific factors that occur in various cases of conjoined twins, and what the effects of those factors are on quality of life, and which ones he feels result in such severe impairment that it would better not to let them be born. Naming these twins and saying “their parents should have aborted them” accomplished nothing but to upset the family, and eventually the twins themselves if they’re not too mentally impaired to grow up and surf the Internet.
Never mind my last post. I was referring to the Iranian twins. I did not know they had died.