The parents of conjoined twin boys in Atlanta have announced that their children have died, USA Today reported on Saturday.
Their father said in a Facebook post that the twin boys died on Friday.
Asa and Eli - Michael and Robin Hamby's twins - were born by cesarean section on Thursday. The babies were attached at the legs, arms and torso, and couldn't be separated successfully because they shared the same heart and circulatory system.
"Robin got over there and we got to hold them, love them and sing to them," Michael said on Facebook, according to the Daily Mail.
The Hambys, who already have a young daughter, were told by doctors that their chances of conceiving were low. Robin Hamby was a nurse and knew something wasn't right with her pregnancy when she went for an early ultrasound.
"They asked us if we want to terminate," Michael said. "We told them no, and that was it. Then we started talking about what we need to do for the babies, and that's the way it's been."
The twins had an atrial flutter at birth - an abnormal heart beat - and it was beating 300 beats per minute. Drugs were ultimately not effective in saving the twins.
The pregnancy, which had very specific risks, is considered extremely rare, but Robin Hamby carried it to 37 weeks. Only about 35 percent of conjoined twins live past their first day of life, according to statistics from the University of Maryland Medical Center.
Asa and Eli's condition was severe, but on average, conjoined twins only have a 25 percent survival rate.
