In a heart-breaking sonogram photo, a dying twin was seen holding his sister's finger. The twins' mother, Brittani McIntire, and her husband Ian McIntire were informed by doctors that one of their children will most likely die.

The twin, known to be a boy, was found to have a hole in his heart and an abnormal brain. "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," said Brittani McIntyre. "Most twins when 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."

Describing the sense of comfort he found in the sonogram photo, Ian said: "We know we have a piece of them together that will last forever and it's special to have."

The couple – who also have two young daughters – have named the unborn boy Mason and his sister, Madilyn. Speaking of Madilyn's love for Mason, Brittani McIntire said that she is glad that there is someone to watch 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 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," she said, according to a ABC13 report.

Earlier, a US woman who was applying to make a man pay child support for her twin daughters had a shock when it was discovered he was the father of only one of them. Obstetrician-gynaecologist Jennifer Wu explained that sperm can remain viable for up to five days and ovulating women can produce more than one egg, meaning a woman could become impregnated twice. When both sets have the same father, normal fraternal twins result. When two different men are involved, the phenomenon is known as superfecundation.