County mum has Siamese twins

A Shropshire teenager today became the youngest woman ever to give birth to conjoined twins, according to reports.Reports said Laura Williams, 18, from Shrewsbury, had a Caesarian section operation this morning and is now mother to twin girls, whom she has called Faith and Hope.

Both girls are believed to be healthy, according to early reports.

Laura and husband Aled, 28, defied medical advice to abort the girls early in her pregnancy.

Only about five per cent of conjoined twins survive the first 24 hours, but because they are joined at the front, doctors say the chances are good in this case.

Speaking before the birth Laura said: "It's scary every day and it's been the hardest decision of our lives, but if they're meant to be in this world and if they've come this far, we've got to hope they'll make it the rest of the way.

"We called them Hope and Faith because I'm always hoping everything's going to be all right and mum says she's got faith in it being all right."

The couple discovered they were expecting conjoined twins at their 12-week scan. Conjoined twins occur in about one in every 400,000 live births. Over the past 500 years, just over 600 surviving sets of conjoined twins have been recorded.

The couple have been living with Laura's mother Wendy in Shrewsbury after losing their home when they fell into rent arrears.

They have been helped by Shrewsbury's Isaiah 58 Project, which helps families in need and works with the homeless. Project organiser John Woodyatt said the couple approached him about five weeks ago.

Mr Woodyatt said the couple could not continue staying at Laura's mother's house as there was no room for a hygienic nursery.

"We just really need to get them rehoused but we have not had any luck yet," he said. The couple met two-and-a-half years ago at a mutual friend's party. Aled, the son of an evangelical preacher from Anglesey, was a car valet at the time.

Aled said: "She was just so different to other girls. She was so genuine. I don't drink and Laura's not really into parties. We just clicked."

Both Aled and Laura say they knew they would be to- gether but their fate was se- aled when Laura became pregnant with their daughter Carly, now 18 months old.

By David Burrows