Surviving Siamese twin enjoying a normal life

IT'S been almost two years since Siamese twins Jodie and Mary Attard were born in August 2000.

Mary died just months later as doctors separated the girls. Jodie survived and now lives a normal happy life with her parents in the tiny Maltese village of Gozo.

Despite the heartbreak, the twins’ parents are said to be delighted with the progress of Jodie. Local parish priest Father Julian Refalo Rapa said yesterday the family was happy and had settled down following their ordeal.

“Everything is all right now. I met them three months ago.

They are settled now and they are happy,” he said.

The twins made world headlines as the House of Lords deliberated over the decision to separate them. The girls were joined at the spine which formed one continuous trunk. Jodie’s heart and lungs were also supporting her sister Mary and without surgery to separate them, both would have died.

The twins’ parents, Rina, 31, and Michelangelo, 46, were staunch Catholics and opposed surgery to separate their children, saying the girls’ fate was the will of God.

But the court ruled in favour of St Mary’s Hospital in Manchester, granting doctors permission for the 20 hour operation which took place in November 2000.

Last year in an interview with the Malta Independent, Rina indicated she had grown to accept the doctors’ decision, saying: “Motherhood is the greatest investment one can make. It is beautiful to be a mother.”