London - When conjoined twins Ruby and Rosie were in the womb, doctors were so sure they wouldn’t make it that preparations for the delivery were left until the last minute.
And the drama of their caesarean birth was doubled when they were taken to another hospital for emergency surgery – forcing their recovering mother to make a desperate dash across London to be with them.
But seven years later, the pair are the picture of health and happiness.
Angela and Daniel Formosa had been told to prepare for the worst and even consider abortion as the twins’ chances of survival were so slim.
"We were scared but termination was never an option for me," said Formosa, 38. "I just couldn’t do that… and look I made the right decision."
Ruby and Rosie were born fused together at the abdomen. Within hours of their birth they had surgery at Great Ormond Street Hospital to clear a life-threatening intestinal blockage and separate them.
Formosa said doctors were so sure that Ruby and Rosie would die that provisions weren’t made for the delivery until the very last moment. "I was having scans every two weeks and each time I was told to prepare myself that there probably won’t be two heartbeats," she said.
Within hours of the birth on July 26, 2012, the twins had to be taken from University College Hospital to Great Ormond Street for an emergency operation.
Terrified she wouldn’t see her girls again, Formosa discharged herself and rushed over to be with them. After five hours of surgery they survived, and came home a few weeks later.
"We felt amazed and relieved," said the mother, who has another daughter, Lily, 11, with 43-year-old cab driver Mr Formosa. "They look after each other and are constantly finishing off each other’s sentences. They even got identical grades in their school report."
Aptly, the girls, from Bexleyheath, south-east London, want to be doctors. Half of conjoined twins are stillborn and 35 percent of survivors live only a day.