Mom excited for conjoined twins to live independent lives

For Ieasha McMurray, her experience with motherhood has been far from ordinary.

When she first learned that she would be giving birth to twins, she was ecstatic, but joy soon turned to utter shock as she discovered the babies, Azaria and Azora Elson, were actually conjoined twins.

Although she was initially surprised, she quickly embraced the unique trait of her twins with her unwavering faith.

Now, 16 months after birth, McMurray can finally release a sigh of relief as the twins prepare for life-altering separation surgery, to be performed at the King Abdullah Specialist Children’s Hospital in Riyadh under the Saudi Programme for Separating Conjoined Twins. This, she says, was an early Christmas gift and a miracle.

Throughout the pregnancy and since the birth of the girls, McMurray’s memories have now become a compilation of joy, sadness, hopelessness, and immense gratitude, especially as she reflects on the challenges she endured and conquered with her support system and the help of the local team at the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI).

For McMurray, the moment she was told she was carrying conjoined twins is still as vivid.

“I already knew what conjoined twins were, so I was not surprised. Me just did surprise say, yes, me a carry conjoined twin. My only concern at that time was where they were joined,” she shared.

The twins are omphalopagus, meaning they are joined at the abdomen, but initially her doctor was unsure whether they were connected by just skin or shared multiple organs as well. However, after further examinations revealed that all they shared was a liver and that they were only joined at the lower abdomen, McMurray was relieved that the results were not far worse.

Strong faith in God

Despite how complex her pregnancy was, McMurray had a strong faith in God, praying over the health of her babies and leaning on her family’s support.

“Me never did a worry about the baby dem because, you know when you just know say things a go alright? Yes, right throughout me no worry, even now because me know say dem a go alright,” she said. She gave credit to God and said that prayer alone gave her the strength she needed to endure complications and carrying conjoined twins.

Giving birth, McMurray said, has never felt like it was an emergency as it was always planned and this time was no different as the twins entered the world through caesarian section at the UHWI at 35 weeks. They were delivered by Dr Nadine Johnson and Dr Tiffany Hunter-Graves.

“On the day of the surgery I was so nervous ‘til me a shake. So many doctors and nurses in one room but it was a morning. It was so overwhelming, and it was the first time I was doing c-section, and I was saying, ‘Wah gwaan mek me a see so much people’. Eye water full up me eye and I tell myself that ‘I got this’,” recalled McMurray, who at the time was already a mother of two.

Since birth, the only home the Elson twins have known is the hospital as they spent their first months in medical care, with their mother only being able to visit them during designated times daily while they were in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). For the first eight months, she had to pump breast milk to feed the babies, which eventually took an emotional toll on her that made her struggle to produce milk.

“It was difficult because I had to pump milk which me never do before, but I just had to do what I had to do,” she said.

The breakthrough came when McMurray learned that her girls were finally eligible for separation surgery in Saudi Arabia, due to the intervention of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, which facilitated talks between the UHWI, where the children currently stay, and Saudi Arabian government officials.

Financial burden

Several medical teams in the United States considered the case but then came the financial burden as surgery costs as much as US$2.1 million. However, thanks to Saudi Arabia, the girls can get surgery free of cost.

Grateful, McMurray said, “When the lady told me the news (about the surgery), me speechless. Me see God. She call me and tell me that it’s my Christmas gift.”

She did not indicate who exactly it was who first told her the surgery was going forward.

“She asked me how I was feeling but I said, ‘You wouldn’t even imagine how me feel right now just fi hear this’. Me couldn’t go back go sleep.”

The surgery, which is expected to take place soon, does have its pros and cons, as this is a major procedure. McMurray said the doctors kept nothing from her and made sure she was properly informed about the potential repercussions such as losing one of the babies during surgery, but that she has vowed to remain firm in her faith in God and keep a positive mindset.

Worry is not among the baggage she wishes to carry with her on the family’s trip to Saudi Arabia.

One concern, however, remains constant as Azora, the smaller of the two, was identified as weaker than her sister.

Celia Christie-Samuels, professor of paediatrics at The University of the West Indies (UWI), was reported last week as having indicated that the toddlers have had many challenges since their birth. She said Azaria is slightly underweight for her age and had a heart lesion which is now closed.

Christie-Samuels said Azora is similarly underweight, has several congenital heart abnormalities and is in heart failure.

“Both girls also have extra heartbeats from what we call the atrium, the smaller parts of the heart, and both of them have abnormal function of the thyroid gland,” she added, noting that the twins’ condition is rare, occurring in approximately one in every 50,000 to one in every 150,000 babies worldwide.

“I always tell them that nothing is going to happen, but they always say ‘Mommy, you have to consider what if,” McMurray said of medical officials’ attempts to prepare her for the worst. “But me no think about anything else but a successful surgery. No matter what dem tell me, me nah meds nothing else.”

Although the feeling of anxiety persists, McMurray is only excited about one thing, and that is to finally bring the twins home so that they can live a normal life after separation.

“I can’t wait for them to live independent lives, to move freely and to experience the world in their own way,” she said.

The twins have stark differences in their personalities which they have already begun to show. One is more active and playful with a bigger appetite, despite being smaller, while the other is quieter.

After surgery, McMurray plans to throw a huge welcome home party with family, friends, and her community when the girls get home for the first time. Her family has not really had the chance to be with them yet, but that is what McMurray is looking forward to the most, just the thought of finally having them home.

Meanwhile, McMurray recalls there were some moments where she felt the burden was just too much to carry and found herself breaking down in tears, hopelessness washing over her.

Among those moments was when, months after the twins were cleared to safely undergo surgery and there was still no news, she visited them in the hospital one day and saw them sleeping peacefully. She said that, as she watched them, she felt the opposite of peace as she thought about the fact that, although she was told they could get surgery six months after birth, the surgery kept getting pushed back.

That was one of the few moments that McMurray recalled allowing herself to break down.

Despite that, she encourages parents who are in a similar situation to persevere.

Take negativity

and put it aside

“Just have hope and have faith because prayer works. Me know that. Beg Father God to give them the strength to go through each day because a dat me haffi do. Take negativity and put it aside, only positivity. [It’s] Your child already and you go through it to have the child so why yuh going to speak negative about the child’s condition? Just be positive and that’s all dem have to do. Have faith,” she encouraged.

She was also overcome with immense gratitude for the doctors in Saudi Arabia.

“Me no know how fi find words to express and tell them. Even the day I met the ambassador; I was so speechless. When he started talking, I started to cry because I could not talk because to know that somebody from a next country a step in and do this thing. Me just want to say thanks for taking dem time just to look on the babies and meet,” McMurray said. “The fact seh dem tek it up in hand, I just want to say thanks, thanks, thank you and I’m so appreciative of their kindness and their love.”

Ambassador of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to Jamaica, Waleed bin Abdulrahman Alhamoudi, and Foreign Affairs Minister Kamina Johnson Smith had paid a visit to the mother and twins at the UHWI on March 13.

Alhamoudi was in Jamaica for Diplomatic Week, which was observed under the theme, ‘Building Partnerships for a Sustainable Future’.

mickalia.kington@gleanerjm.com

For those wishing to support the twins’ post-surgery journey, Iesha has shared donation details on her TikTok page.