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Identical twin girls born at 31 weeks home for Christmas

Identical twin girls, Lucy and Lilly, have made it home in time to celebrate their first Christmas after being born at just 31 weeks. 

The little girls, born to Queensland couple Melissa and Matthew Heald, spent a combined 125 days in hospital care but have finally made it home in time for the festive season. 

Melissa, the twins’ mum, was being monitored as she was identified as having a high-risk pregnancy, with concerns about the possibility of the twins having twin anaemia polycythaemia sequence and twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome, rare but serious conditions affecting twins who share a placenta. From 18 weeks gestation, Melissa had to make fortnightly trips to the hospital to check up on her and her unborn babies.

Lucy and Lilly ended up being born by emergency caesarean section at only 31 weeks gestation. Lucy weighed 1.4kg whilst little Lilly was just 867 grams. Lucy had to be cared for in the Neonatal Critical Care Unit for 50 days and her smaller sister for 75 days. 

Lilly had to undergo surgery for a bowel blockage less than 24 hours after her birth and had a second surgery when she was just 64 days old. Fortunately, this successful surgery marked a turning point for the little girl and she was able to leave the NCCU just over 10 days later. 

Lucy and Lilly’s 12-year-old sister, Billie, and 8-year-old brother, Cooper, are celebrating having their little sisters home. Family members are coming from all over Australia to celebrate the twins’ first Christmas. 

Their mum, Melissa, said “To be able to have both our girls home for Christmas is really special for all of us”.

Lucy and Lilly are joining the ranks of premature babies who are increasingly surviving at earlier gestations. Key studies in recent years have documented the improving outcomes for these babies. A 2008 study looking at survival rates for a neonatal intensive care unit in London found that neonatal survival rates at 22 and 23 weeks gestation had improved over time. In 1981-85, no babies who were born at these gestational ages survived to discharge. However, by 1986-90, 19% did and this increased to 54% in the period 1996-2000.

In the decade to 2019 alone, the survival rate for extremely premature babies born at 23 weeks doubled, prompting new guidance from the British Association of Perinatal Medicine (BAPM) that enables doctors to intervene to save premature babies from 22 weeks gestation. The previous clinical guidance, drafted in 2008, set the standard that babies who were born before 23 weeks gestation should not be resuscitated.

Spokesperson for Right To Life UK, Catherine Robinson, said “Welcome home little Lucy and Lilly! How inspiring to read about these premature twins, born at just 31 weeks. It’s amazing to know that medical advances mean that little babies born so early and facing big challenges are able to overcome these and not only survive, but thrive. We hope they all have a wonderful first Christmas together”.

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Dear reader,

Thanks to the hard work and dedication of people like you across the UK, the McArthur assisted suicide Bill in Scotland was defeated in March by 69 votes to 57.

Then, in April, the Leadbeater assisted suicide Bill fell in the House of Lords.

Many commentators thought both Bills would become law.

If that had happened, governments in England, Scotland and Wales would now be preparing to roll out assisted suicide services.

Over the coming decades, this would have led to the deaths of many thousands of vulnerable people.

But that is not what happened.

Because supporters like you acted, those Bills were stopped.

Because of you, many vulnerable lives have been saved.

These were two very significant victories. But sadly, they are not the last battles we face this year.

The new Parliamentary session began on Wednesday. We now face three major threats.

  1. Attempts to bring back the Leadbeater assisted suicide Bill and bypass the House of Lords

    The assisted suicide lobby, led by Dignity in Dying, a multi-million-pound pressure group, has made it clear that it is going to attempt to bring back the Leadbeater assisted suicide Bill in the next parliamentary session.

    It then plans to use the Parliament Acts to bypass the House of Lords and force the Bill into law.

  2. Labour Government plans for a major expansion of abortion provision, including financial incentives for ‘lunch-hour’ abortions

    Under these plans, the Government would financially incentivise major abortion providers, BPAS and MSI Reproductive Choices, to provide ‘lunch-hour’ or ‘same-day’ abortions.

    ‘Lunch-hour’ abortion services are walk-in abortion services designed to fit into a woman’s lunch hour.

    Women facing an unplanned pregnancy need time, care and support, not a system that gives abortion clinics a financial incentive to rush them through consultations, scans and abortions on the same day.

    If these plans go ahead, many more lives are likely to be ended by abortion here in the UK.

  3. Extreme abortion up to birth proposals in Scotland

    In Scotland, plans are moving forward to introduce an extreme abortion up to birth law. This would go far beyond the abortion law change recently backed by the Lords for England and Wales.

    A review of abortion law in Scotland, commissioned by Humza Yousaf when he was Scottish First Minister, recommended that the Scottish Government scrap the current 24-week time limit – and abortion be available on social grounds, including for sex-selective purposes, right up to birth.

    The final plans are expected to be brought forward as a Government Bill in the new Scottish Parliament, which begins this Thursday.

If these three major threats succeed, thousands of vulnerable lives will be lost.

We cannot allow this to happen.

We can only defeat these three major threats with your help.

We ran our biggest campaigns ever to help defeat the assisted suicide Bills at Westminster and in Scotland.

That work has made a serious dent in our limited resources.

To cover this gap and ensure we can effectively defeat these three major threats in the coming months, we are aiming to raise at least £199,250 by midnight this Sunday (17 May 2026).

We are, therefore, appealing to you to please give as generously as you can.

Every donation, large or small, will make a crucial difference in saving the lives of the unborn and many others. Plus, if you are a UK taxpayer, £1 becomes £1.25 with Gift Aid at no extra cost to you.

By stopping these threats, YOU can save lives during this new Parliamentary session.

Will you donate now to help protect vulnerable lives from these three major threats?

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Help stop three major anti-life threats.

Help stop three major anti-life threats.