A family are desperate for their conjoined twins attached at the forehead to be separated despite the risk of them dying in the operation.
Joy and Joyce Magsino, 10, from the Philippines, were born with angular frontal partial craniopagus.
Doctors told their family it is possible to separate the sisters but involves a risky operation, which caused a local charity to withdraw its earlier financial support.
The procedure costs £75,000, which the family cannot afford on the twins’ father’s salary of £6 a day. His wife has even emigrated to work abroad in an effort to save up, leaving the girls in the care of their relatives.
A family spokesperson said: ‘The doctors said the operation would be quite risky as one nerve connects the girls and it would have to be connected within seconds or else one of them would die. That is when the foundation withdrew their support.’
A family are desperate for their conjoined twins attached at the forehead to be separated
Joy and Joyce Magsino, 10, were born with angular frontal partial craniopagus
‘I will never be able to afford the treatment’
The twins’ father Patrick Magsino, 30, earns just £6 a day as a market assistant porter, while his wife Jomarie emigrated to Qatar to work as a maid in order to save up for the separation procedure.
Mr Magsino said: ‘We have been trying hard to organised the funds for the past five years after the doctors confirmed that the girls can be separated, but we haven’t been able to garner even one third of it so far.
‘I am seeking help from hospitals in countries such as the UK, the US and India.
‘I’d be open to any procedure where the safety of both my girls will be ensured.
‘Also, expenses should be covered as well, because on my own I would never be able to afford their treatment.’
The family claim at the time of the twins’ birth a local charity offered to help pay for medical treatment of the girls.
Yet they apparently withdrew this offer in 2014 when doctors said the operation was risky.
Despite their risk of death in the procedure, the family are seeking £75,000 for the operation
Their father only earns £6 a day, while their mother emigrated in order to work to save money
The family claim a charity offered to help pay for treatment but withdrew when it was ‘risky’
Their father says it is hard to control the girls as they want to be separated but are still ‘playful’
‘They are playful’
Mr Magsino added: ‘When the girls were born they were fed through a plastic tube but today they are playful.
‘It has become hard to control them especially because they now want to be separated.
‘The twins have developed a great sense of understanding, but they occasionally fight over doing their preferred activities.
‘Joyce has a cleft lip and is dominant of the two twins and usually manages to get her way in most situations.’