Parents Share Story Of Identical Twins Who Are An Exact Mirror Image Of Each Other

Lucas and Louie Cooke are identical twins but they are actually more than that in a special way. They are mirror image because Lucas has his heart and some other organs on the opposite side of his body.

The Daily Mail reports:

Mirror image twins occur very rarely in pregnancy when a single embryo splits at a very late stage around seven days after conception. Lucas and Louis’ embryo split into two at the 10 day point but had it been a day or so later would have been born conjoined.

It meant a difficult monochorionic monoamniotic (MoMo) pregnancy for mum Daniell, 28, from Stockton who had to be monitored three times a day. This was due to the boys sharing the same amniotic sac although it was not known they were mirror image until after the birth. This also led to a terrifying emergency C-section at 30 weeks at the University Hospital of North Tees. Lucas was born first by a fraction of a minute weighing 3lb 5oz followed by Louie who weighed 2lb 12 oz.

Their tiny umbilical cords were so wrapped around each other they resembled a plait. Their father Richie, 27, said: ‘With twins you have a ready made family. The bonding and the closeness of them is unreal to watch. We discovered they were mirror-image twins after they were examined by a consultant. He explained that Lucas’s heart, liver and spleen are on the opposite side of his body which happens in extreme cases of mirror-image twins. Lucas has a heart condition, congenitally corrected transposition of the great arteries but this doesn’t cause him any problems and simply means he needs to be monitored annually his parents say.

Mr Cooke, a supervisor, added: ‘There was a worry he had a more serious heart condition at first but thankfully that turned out not to be the case. His other organs being on the opposite side have no effect on him whatsoever.’

After a six-week stay in hospital, Mr Cooke and his wife Danielle, from Elm Tree, Newcastle, were thrilled to have the boys home. Now aged 22 months, the pair love being outdoors having fun and playing football. Mrs Cooke, who works for an insurance firm, added: ‘They love a dance, they love a good babble in their “twin language” over the cot barriers.’