Surviving siamese twin can be named

The surviving Siamese twin whose sister died to save her life can finally be named today as Gracie Attard, from the Mediterranean island of Gozo.

A High Court judge lifted orders barring her identification after hearing that exclusive pictures and interviews with the parents would guarantee a £350,000 trust fund for the 10-month-old girl.

The decision came as doctors in Manchester, where the child has been being treated, gave the go-ahead for her to return to Gozo with her parents.

They could leave as soon as this weekend.

Simon Taylor, representing the girl's parents, Michaelangelo and Rina Attard, told Mr Justice Bennett TODAY that the object of the hearing was to further the daughter's "financial interest".

Mr Taylor told the judge: "I am being quite blunt about what the court is being asked to assist in."

The rest of the hearing was held in private.

But it is known that publicist Max Clifford has brokered a deal for the parents involving two national newspapers, a magazine and television programme which are willing to pay £350,000 for interviews and pictures.

Mr Taylor at first referred to the daughter in court as "Jodie", the pseudonym which until today has been used to identify Gracie, who is thriving following an operation last year at St Mary's Hospital in Manchester to separate her from her sister.

The twins were born in August last year with fused spines which left them joined at the abdomen, with Jodie's heart and lungs keeping both of them alive. The sister, who was originally known as "Mary", but was named Rosie, died after the operation because she had no separate heart function.

Judges gave permission for the operation because doctors warned that if the conjoined twins were not separated both would die.

The family's tragic story, together with their return home, is to be covered in the News of the World, the Mail on Sunday, Now magazine and Granada Television's Tonight with Trevor McDonald.

Mr Attard, 44, and his 29-year-old wife, who are strict Roman Catholics, originally opposed surgery to separate the girls, saying their fate should be left in the hands of God.

They applied to lift the publicity ban as a way of securing Gracie's future on the impoverished island, where there a few medical facilities needed for their daughter, who still faces many more years of medical treatment.

Mr Justice Bennett, who re-opened his court to give his ruling, said he had decided the vary the no publicity order "in this quiet exceptional, indeed, unique, case".

The original injunction was lifted.

The new order bars publication of any pictures of the twins before they were separated, or of any pictures of Rosie which were taken after the operation.

No pictures of Gracie which were taken after the operation and before June 10 this year can be published.

The order also bars the media from seeking information from Gracie's carers, other than her parents, or from Gracie herself as she grows up.

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