ASHEBORO — Jason and Heather Kroeger were surprised to learn last spring that she was expecting twins. They were even more surprised to hear that the twins were conjoined.
In an interview on Friday, Jason said he did not know much about conjoined twins when they viewed the ultrasound results with doctors.
“I knew it was rare,” he saidy. “The first thing that came to my mind was surprise, and then questions, ‘Are they going to be OK?’”
Conjoined twins are physically connected. Every set of conjoined twins is unique. According to the University of Maryland Medical Center, conjoined twins occur once in every 200,000 live births. Approximately 40-60 percent of conjoined twins arrive stillborn. About 35 percent survive only one day.
The Kroegers’ twin boys, Elijah and Isaac, are almost five months old. They were born Sept. 5, 2017, in the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, one of the oldest pediatric hospitals in the United States, which offers treatments for rare and complex conditions.
Heather and the boys are still in Cincinnati. Jason travels back and forth between their home in Asheboro, working and seeing to the couple’s other five children: Jacob, 18, Liz, 16, James, 13, Isaiah, 10, and Julia, who is 5.
Everyone hopes mom and the boys will be able to come back to North Carolina in the next month or two, first to a hospital, and then home. Isaac had surgery Thursday. On Friday, Jason said both boys were doing “good.”
“The hope is,” he said, “that that will be one more step to get them into North Carolina and one step closer to going home.”
The family has seen an outpouring of support of all kinds from family, friends and strangers.
“Right now, prayers are needed. … We would like as many people praying for them as possible,” Heather wrote Thursday in an online message. “… Our boys bring us such joy and keep beating the odds.”
Jason seconded the prayer request.
“They still need prayers, and they still have a long way to go.”
Not an option
High school sweethearts Jason and Heather have been together since they were 15. They grew up and met in Rochester, N.Y., and married in 1999. His work brought them to North Carolina.
With five children, Jason said, the couple had already been through a lot when they got the news about the twins while sitting in a doctor’s office in Asheboro. They were referred to a specialist. Along the way, they were told that an option to consider was to terminate the pregnancy.
“That was never even in the realm of possibilities for us,” he said.
Their original plan was that the boys would be born in Winston-Salem. Eventually, Jason said, a team of doctors advised that “the best fighting chance that our boys had was to come to Cincinnati.”
So, in late August last year, Jason and Heather planned to head to Ohio.
“We were going on blind faith,” he said, “and within days, literally everything fell into place.”
Everything included somewhere to stay and money for expenses. Friends chipped in cash for food and gas. A church provided space for them in the rectory.
Outpouring of support
“Everything’s been kind of a blur,” Jason said.
The boys have had respiratory and heart issues. One of the many surgeries in their young lives took eight hours. Jason was in Asheboro at the time.
“It was almost a full day’s work, just sitting there praying at my desk,” he said. “We’ve had our ups and downs.”
The outpouring of support continues.
“I’ve never experienced anything like this in my entire life,” Jason said. “It’s prayers. Helping with the children. I have no way to explain it — and most of this help we never even asked for. There’s not a list I can come up with to go through and thank people ’cause it would be way too long.”
One of the most memorable occurrences so far? “Somebody left a message saying they’re not a religious person but they’re going to pray for the boys,” Jason said. “Somebody I’ve never met, and probably never will meet, who does not pray, is praying.”
Another couple
One day after the Kroegers found out that Heather was carrying conjoined twins, Jason stopped by to see a friend, Grayson McNeill, at his place of business in Asheboro.
“I knew he was a Christian,” Jason said. “I knew I could ask him to pray for us.”
About a month later, Jason was in the store again. This time he met Grayson’s wife, Candice.
The couple shared the news that Candice was pregnant, too.
“God bless you,” he said.
A couple of weeks later, Heather received a call from a genetics counselor in Winston-Salem to tell her that another mother in the area was also pregnant with conjoined twins. She wanted to talk. The other mother was Candice McNeill.
“We all kind of scratched our heads,” Jason said. “Obviously, everything statistically is possible. But the population size of Randolph County is not that big.”
Emily and Sophie, the conjoined twin daughters of Candice and Grayson McNeill, were born Oct. 26 via cesarean delivery in the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center.
On Sunday, Dec. 3, 2017, Candice shared the news with “Facebook family” that Emily and Sophie had died.
“Our precious Emily and Sophie went to be with our Lord and Savior last night at 7:40 p.m.,” she wrote. “It was the most peaceful and beautiful thing I have ever experienced. God’s presence just filled that whole room, I am so thankful for His grace! We held them and kissed them, told them we loved them, I sang to them and we held their hands.
“Although my heart is broken, it was a special time that I’m forever grateful for. God gave us 5 weeks 3 days … time we never ever thought we would have. We all were wanting a miracle … BUT they ARE the miracle!!! Emily and Sophie touched lives that we will never even know until we get to Heaven one day!!! …”
Don’t lose hope
The Kroegers say they are willing to share their story for one reason.
“We’re pro-life, and there are so many people out there that will lose hope, or they don’t think things will work out,” Jason said.
“Trust in God. Never lose hope. Life is precious. Every single life, whether it’s just conceived or the elderly.
“If there was one mother out there, if she was thinking she doesn’t have a choice, she does have a choice. There’s support that is out there. It was difficult for us, and we already knew what our decision was. We went from we had no idea how to move forward to we had people around the world praying for us.
“It’s been difficult, but, at the same time, what choice do we have. We would do this for any of our other children. We keep plugging along, and we keep on praying, and we don’t lose hope.”