Father of conjoined three-year-old twins faces a heart-breaking choice over separation surgery that would save the life of one daughter but kill the other

A father of conjoined twins has had to make the heart-breaking decision of whether to separate this daughters and risk the life of one to save the other.

Ibrahima Ndiaye, 50, brought his girls Marieme and Ndeye from Senegal to the UK when they were seven months old to seek help from Great Ormond Street Hospital. 

Twins Marieme and Ndeye have separate brains, hearts and lungs but share a liver, bladder, digestive system, and three kidneys.

However Marieme's heart is weak and her life expectancy is poor but if she dies her conjoined sister will also pass away, reports the Guardian.

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Ibrahima Ndiaye, 50, has to decided whether to separate his daughters Marieme and Ndeye, pictured, knowing that one of them will not survive the operation

In a BBC documentary airing tomorrow evening father-of-six Ibrahima faces the dilemma of saving one of his daughter's but letting the other die.

He said: 'In this situation, you don’t use your brain, you follow your heart. Any decision is heartbreaking, so much turmoil, so many consequences.'

Ibrahima tried hospitals in Belgium, Germany, Zimbabwe, Norway, Sweden, and America before heading to the UK, reports the BBC.  

The father also reveals he has lost his job as a project manager in tourism and events and his second wife has returned to Dakar since he brought the twins to England.

Great Ormond Street helped Ibrahima, who is now living in Cardiff with his three-year-old daughters, deliberate the options and make a decision.

To help with the ethical questions the twins’ medical team request the guidance of the Great Ormond Street Clinical Ethics Committee.

Marieme and Ndeye came to the UK when they were seven months old. They have separate brains, hearts and lungs but share a liver, bladder, digestive system, and have three kidneys

Dr Joe Brierley, pictured, was Chair of the Ethics Committee who worked on the twins' case and helped Ibrahima decide whether he would separate his three-year-old daughters

This is one of the first to be set up in the UK and they help families through some of the increasingly complex decisions.  

Joe Brierley, a consultant paediatrician and chair of the committee, said: 'We can do unbelievable things compared to 20 or 30 years ago. But just because we can, it doesn’t always mean we should.'      

The hospital is one of the world’s leading centres for conjoined twins and earlier this year Safa and Marwa Ullah from Pakistan, who were joined at the head, were separated.

It took a series of operations totaling 55 hours and more than 100 members of staff over a span of four months to part the Pakistani youngsters.

Safa and Marwa Ullah from Pakistan, pictured with their mother and grandfather, were joined at the head and successfully separated at Great Ormond Street in London earlier this year

During one of the meetings Dr Brierley explains to Ibrahima what will happen if he doesn't separate his daughters.

He said: 'Marieme’s dying process will be Ndeye’s dying process – it isn’t possible to stop that or change it … [And] it won’t be an option to separate them once Marieme starts to die.'

In the end Ibrahima decides he cannot separate the girls and know he caused the death of Marieme.

He told the Observer: 'They are together, they are equal. Great Ormond Street had been very honest and very clear with me all the way.'