A heartfelt baby scan image of a dying twin holding his unborn sister’s hand inside the womb has emerged online.
Pregnant mother Brittani McIntire was overjoyed when she was told she was having twins but her elation turned to despair within weeks.
Brittani and husband Ian were told the boy twin would not survive as he has a hole in his heart and problems with his brain.
But a baby scan picture has given the parents an unexpected piece of comfort as it appears to show the unborn twins looking after each other in the womb.
Britanni, from Hutchinson, Kansas, told ABC6:
“We didn’t really see much, she said there’s his hand and there’s her hand and it looks like they’re holding hands.Most twins when she’s trying to take pictures and stuff, they’re kicking each other and hitting each other, and she said with our twins, it seems like she was very protective over him.
“It’s just nice with everything going on I know I’m holding him, I’m carrying him but I just want to be there for him and not knowing and she’s the only one who can actually be there and holding onto him through it, and so it’s comforting to know that if he does pass, he won’t be alone.”
The boy twin, who the parents have named Mason, is on the left and has appears to have his hand wrapped around the finger of his sister, Madilyn.