Conjoined twins pass away after parents make gut-wrenching decision to turn off life support

Two parents in the US have made the gut-wrenching decision to turn off the life-support of their conjoined twins after the health of both girls deteriorated.

The twins, Emily and Sophie, had their own hearts, spines and heads but shared a body.

"They were perfect, they were beautiful," mother Candice McNeill, from Asheboro in North Carolina, told 11Alive.com.

"They'd always grab on to your inner index and hold your finger very tight."

Candice and her husband Grayson found out they were having conjoined twins when Candice was 15 weeks pregnant.

They were asked if they wanted to terminate the pregnancy but said no, hoping they could give the twins "the chance at life."

The girls were born on October 26 at the Cincinnati Children's Hospital in Ohio.

Candice stayed in Ohio for 70 days at the Ronald McDonald House, spending as much time in the NICU as possible with her daughters.

"It was hard because at the NICU you had to sign in to see your baby, you had to get permission if you wanted to hold your baby," Candice told 11Alive.com.

Sadly, the twins had health issues from the beginning, such as problems with their breathing.

"Sometimes bad things happen to good people and that's okay," says Grayson.

"The Lord never removes suffering but he always takes us through it."

When they realised the girls were not going to get better, doctors told them they had two choices: to wait for them to have a cardiac arrest, or to take them off life support.

"To me it wasn't even choice," Candice said. "You did the best for your children because you love them."

"We just decided this is enough, they're not going to make it," Grayson said.

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"We prayed together and made the decision to take the vents out. It was definitely the hardest thing I've ever done."

After five weeks with Emily and Sophie, they said their goodbyes.

"Two beautiful little angels that were borrowed to us for a certain time," Candice said.

"They were just like little angels, they really were."