ABSTRACT
The case, Re A , concerned Jodie and Mary, born to devout Catholic parents. The girls each had their own brain, heart, lungs and vital organs; and each had four limbs. But the court was told that Mary's cardiorespiratory system was insufficient to support life; she remained alive only because of their connected circulations. Without separation, the surgeons predicted that Mary would die within 3–6 months, followed within hours by her sister, who would exsanguinate into her dead sister's circulation. Academic lawyers have suggested that seeking to justify giving priority to the welfare of one or the other twin was an exercise too finely balanced for clinicians or judges to arrive at a conclusion with certainty. Considerable doubt is cast upon the proposition that the judgement in Re A can be relied upon by contemporary surgeons faced with the prospect of needing to sacrifice the life of one twin for the benefit of another.
