Broken-hearted but matter-of-fact, my best friend told me there was a complication with her pregnancy. It was stage three twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome. She explained that, with a shared placenta, too much blood was being transfused to Baby A at the expense of Baby B, and the condition was progressing fast—Baby B was showing signs of brain damage from the lack of blood and Baby A's heart was becoming dangerously enlarged.She traveled from New York to the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia for a battery of tests that quickly led to a procedure to terminate Baby B in order to save Baby A. She was 20 weeks pregnant. While a typical second-trimester abortion might involve injecting potassium into the heart of the unhealthy fetus, that's not an option when twins share a placenta. Instead, she underwent a laparoscopic procedure to deliver currents of heat directly to Baby B's umbilical cord. She had to carry both fetuses—one deceased, one healthy—until she gave birth several weeks later. If she had waited much longer to make a decision, both would have died.Continue reading on Tonic.
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