Life-saving dilemma: conjoined twins’ future in limbo at Port Moresby General Hospital

A month-old pair of conjoined twins from Lae, Morobe Province, are receiving critical care at Port Moresby General Hospital [PMGH], as plans to seek surgical intervention in Australia have stalled amid complex medical challenges.

PMGH Chief Executive Dr. Paki Molumi confirmed that the twins’ severe medical condition has made separation extremely high-risk.

“The twins have complex multiple anomalies, and to separate them would mean losing one,” Dr. Molumi said in a statement.

Born joined at the lower abdomen, the twins were delivered at Braun Hospital in Finschhafen before being medevacked first to Angau Memorial Hospital in Lae and then to Port Moresby for specialist care. They have since been under close monitoring at the hospital’s Special Care Nursery.

Dr. Molumi revealed that one twin has a single kidney, underdeveloped lungs, and a severe congenital heart defect, while both share a liver, urinary bladder, portions of the gastrointestinal tract, and spinal abnormalities.

“Taking all these factors into account, the PMGH team has agreed that it is in the best interest of the twins and their family that they continue receiving care at the hospital,” Dr. Molumi said.

The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade [DFAT] has clarified that funding is not the issue preventing the transfer to Australia, following reports by the ABC suggesting otherwise.

“We have been working closely with Port Moresby General Hospital and are guided by the medical team’s assessment of what is best for the twins,” DFAT said in a statement.

The case has drawn widespread attention across Papua New Guinea and abroad, highlighting both the fragility of neonatal care in complex cases and the difficult ethical decisions facing medical professionals and families when survival chances are slim.