Alea Harris of Defuniak Springs, whose father, Robert Cousins, spent his last years in Santa Rosa County, got more than she expected when she found out in June she and her husband Derrick were pregnant. Not only did doctors tell Harris she was having twins, but conjoined twins.
They’re connected, Harris said, at the chest and abdomen and share a liver. “We found out at eight weeks,” she said, “It was very early. Most [mothers] don’t find out until they’re twenty weeks.”
Harris said finding out this news early, unlike with most medical conditions, was not good since the doctors can’t do much of anything. Instead, she said, it just meant more time knowing what the problem is.
Plus, she said, “The doctors always pressed for termination. They kept saying, ‘They could still die.’” However, there is light forming at the end of the tunnel. “We’re two weeks away from viability age,” she said. According to Harris, conjoined twins surviving to 24 weeks means chances are good they will make it to birth.
Harris also said she’s not telling her three other children until she makes it to 24 weeks. She said they have no idea and after miscarrying last year, she doesn’t want to break the news to them too soon.
Harris said the current status of her twins shows baby A, as she calls it, to be healthy, but baby B has a heart block and may share an electrical complication meaning baby B’s heart could get getting the signal to beat from baby A.
The good news, she said, is a recent MRI showed separate stomach, heart, bladder, lungs, and limbs. She also said baby B had water on its chest, a plural effusion, but tests also showed the condition to have cleared. Harris said doctors have told her if baby B survives separation, it will need a pacemaker immediately. “I’d prefer that to not surviving at all,” she said.
July 10, a www.gofundme.com account appeared under the name Harris Conjoined Twins. Harris said she feels uncomfortable asking for money, but she’s going to need to travel to either a hospital in Colorado or Miami depending on how complications with her insurance resolve.
She said she has a case worker in Pensacola who should let her know soon if she’ll be able to go to the Colorado hospital or will be resigned to go to Miami.
Since Alea Harris cannot work, and Derrick Harris is the sole breadwinner as a Wal-Mart manager, the family needs the help. Currently, the www.gofundme.account shows $1,340 of the $13,000 goal raised by 22 people in 2 months.
Harris said she didn’t even tell anybody about the account until August 29 because she didn’t know if the twins would survive.
As of now, there are a few local shops around Defuniak Springs where people can donate, but Bank of America also has a donation account under the name Harris Conjoined Twins.
Harris said if baby B isn’t doing well when the two are born, she may approve an emergency separation.
“I’m not asking for everything to be perfect. I’d like at least one to make it,” she said. Assuming all goes well, she said the twins should be born around Christmas.
Follow the progress of the Harris twins on their Facebook page called Harris Conjoined Twins and the parents may be contacted directly at harristwins2014@yahoo.com. For anyone travelling to the Defuniak Springs area soon, Ace Hardware is the site for a fundraier Saturday, and the Defuniak community center is the site for a bake sale September 27.
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: Conjoined twins have complicated system, family plan for birth