Holli Gorveatt's babies were due in January next year, but baby Link (pictured top right) was born weighing just 1lb 2oz just 23 weeks into her pregnancy. And Gorveatt (left) remains pregnant with his brother Logan, who is not expected to be born until her 2016 due date. Doctors had expected to have both babies at the NICU (bottom right) at the Evergreen Medical Center in Kirkland, Washington. Dr Martin Walker had performed in-utero surgery to fix a complication - known as 'twin-twin transfusion syndrome' because the babies shared a placenta. Then, when Gorveatt went into labor a week later, Dr Walker was able to safely deliver Link while Logan stayed inside his mother's womb.

In a Nebraska town, with a population of just 14 people, four stores sold more than four million beer cans in a space of a year. The most frequent customers in Whiteclay are from Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, across the border in South Dakota, where alcoholism is rampant, despite strict rules banning booze. Even when women get pregnant, they carry on drinking, and it leads to their children being born with deformities and blood alcohol levels. One in four children in the Native American community are born with fetal alcohol syndrome, which causes stunted growth, facial impairments and prevents the sufferer's mental ages from developing. Many have hyperactive or have attention disorders, suffer from learning disabilities, and can sometimes be smaller than other children.

Richard McDonald, six and his brother Lennon, five, from Corby, Northhamptonshire, suffer from Ectodermal Dysplasia (ED), which causes their hair, teeth and nails to grow abnormally (Richard is pictured, left, in Red, and Lennon in green). The boys do not have any sweat glands meaning they cannot control their body temperature - something that risks them suffering fatal seizures if their bodies overheat or get too cold. They were born with no teeth and later developed malformed and pointy 'vampire' teeth which made eating difficult, as they also do not produce any saliva. Recently, they been fitted with dentures so they can eat without fear of choking (pictured right). Their mother, Zoe McDonald, 27, says they love their new false teeth. She said: 'Since having their new teeth they've been able to eat so much easier. They get really excited hearing their teeth grind together and are obsessed with hearing their food crunch because they've not had it before.'

Jody Parcel, 30, from Rhondda Cynon Taf, went deaf at the age of two. She was given hearing aids, but they stopped working as she got older. In recent years, she found she could no longer hear her children. Four weeks ago, she underwent an operation to have cochlear implants fitted. These are surgically implanted electronic devices that provide a sense of sound to a person who is deaf. Here, a touching video shows the moment they are turned on, and she hears the voice of her fiancé Jeremy Carne, for the first time (Miss Parcel is pictured at this moment, left, centre and right). She is planning to marry Mr Carne (pictured, inset) next year, and hopes to be able to hear him speak at the wedding. She said: 'I will gradually introduced to this noisy, and I mean really noisy, world. I'm amazed at all the noises I hear even though it all sounds the same. We have our wedding booked for next September and I'm determined I'll be able to hear our vows.'

Beau Jacobson, 23, from Colleyville, Texas, was 6'3" and weighed 285lbs when he was in high school (left). After losing 65lbs and developing an eating disorder in college that caused him to drop to 159lbs, Beau overcame his issues with food and is now 200lbs (right).

Two years after they tied the knot, Joel and Lauren Jackson, from Florida, have finally enjoyed their first dance as man and wife. Gazing into each other's eyes the 26 year olds the impromptu moment was one they never expected. Six years ago Joel cheated death, surviving a car crash that rendered him paralysed from the neck down. Such was the severity of his injuries, that Joel was effectively decapitated internally - his head separated from his spine. Lauren said: 'It is the little triumphs that are giant steps for us. And for the little things, I am grateful.'

Erika and Stephen Jones, from Jacksonville, were devastated when their daughter, Abigail, was diagnosed with deadly brain cancer in utero. Doctors in Florida said they couldn't save the baby, because any operation would be too dangerous - and they insisted that the tumor was aggressive. So the family, heartbroken, took the baby home to die. Luckily, Dr. Al Cohen from Boston Children's Hospital heard about Abigail's case and gave it a second look, discovering that he could actually save her. After safely removing the tumor, he learned that it wasn't malignant after all, but was, in fact, a rare type of tumor that looks very similar to a deadly one. Abigail is now home with her parents and her big sister, and the doctor says 'her prognosis is excellent'.

Nancy Binger, 40, of Illinois, was told that her baby would be born with Down syndrome when she was six months pregnant. The college administrator reveals that she completely shut down when she heard the news, and that she still feels terrified about how she is going to raise a child with special needs.

On Tuesday night's episode of E! reality series Botched, Leslie, 31, from North Hollywood asked Los Angeles-based surgeons Paul Nassif and Terry Dubrow to lift and reduce her 34DD breasts (left) after they determined that she suffered from 'grade four' droopiness - the most severe droopiness a person can have. The profession DJ was thrilled with the results of her procedure (right) and wore a black bandeau top to show off her new chest.

Robert Houser, a California-based photographer, took pictures of 35 subjects, from age 17 to their early 70s, for his series, 'Facing Chemo'. Robert said that he hopes that his series inspires empathy, and added that his subjects have thanked him for taking pictures of them, not their disease. 'These images reveal a certain honesty about the individuals - what they are going through, what they are feeling at that moment,' he told Daily Mail Online. 'Undergoing chemo leaves one unable to hide true emotions.'. Many of the men and women he photographed also chose not to hide their bald heads or even the scars on their chests.

What constitutes proper hand washing, and are you doing enough to protect yourself? To find out Jennie Agg used a special UV camera to test different hand-washing techniques - from the typical 'rinse and shake' to the 30 seconds recommended by a leading authority on disease control. The whiter the hand, the more bugs left after washing. Six seconds is the average length of time people spend washing their hands, according to research. But this is not long enough to effectively remove bacteria. The NHS recommends we wash for at least 15 seconds - roughly the time it takes to sing Happy Birthday twice over at a fairly jaunty pace.

Nikki Black, of Los Angeles, told Daily Mail Online that her cancer surgery and the sexualization of her disease by some men made her feel like she didn't own her body, so she got the tattoos in an effort to reclaim her new identity and take back some of the control she had lost.

Ian Pettigrew, a 46-year-old photographer from Ontario, Canada, who is also battling cystic fibrosis, photographed 77 adult women who suffer from the disorder, which damages the lungs and digestive system, for his book Salty Girls , a limited edition publication which spotlights 'how beautiful those fighting CF truly are'.

The woman was given the bizarre-looking meal while she was being treated at St James's Hospital in Leeds (inset). The patient - who was receiving treatment for sickle cell anaemia - lifted the cover on her dinner to discover her chicken curry and rice was squashed on the same plate as a summer fruits crumble. The main course and pudding were overlapping on the plate, meaning fruity jam was seeping into the rice and the curry's spicy gravy was mixing with the sweet dessert. The hospital's chief nurse, Clare Linley, has said the incident was 'clearly a mistake' and the food did not meet the hospital's 'high standards'.

Georgina Compton, 25, from Surrey, has battled the genetic condition cystic fibrosis since birth.
The incurable condition causes the lungs and digestive system to become clogged with mucus - and this, in turn, makes it hard to breathe and digest food. Doctors had always warned it was unlikely she would live past her teenage years - but she continued to defy expectations. Then last October her condition rapidly deteriorated and she was put on the waiting list for an urgent double lung transplant. But at just 4'11" tall, meant her body was too small for most adult organs. Now, she has finally received the transplant she so desperately needed - and is busy making plans for the future she thought she might never see.

Scientists at King's College London, have discovered a genetic variant which determines where a woman will store fat, with those who are pear or hourglass figures at lower risk of type 2 diabetes. Dr Kerrin Small, lead author of the study said: 'On average, women who carry fat in their hips - those with a 'pear-shaped' body type are significantly less likely to develop diabetes than those with smaller hips.'

As the centre of the nervous system, the brain houses structures that control almost every bodily function. And, incredibly, there is now proof that consuming certain foods can change our moods and help us think faster, and that a healthy diet in mid-life can also slash the risk of Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia. Try olive oil for problem solving, citrus fruits to better your perception, nuts for focus, fish for a higher IQ, chocolate if you want to become better at thinking accurately and berries for memory and vision (shown on graphic above).

The animation shows the process of a vaginal birth, the baby's journey from the womb to the outside world. Regular contractions signal the start of the process, occurring as the cervix dilates to accommodate birth.When the cervix is fully dilated at 10cm (top right), uterine contractions become stronger and more frequent. The baby then goes through a series of passive movements, especially its head. As labour progresses, the baby's head then begins its passage out of the vagina - a process called crowning (bottom left). The head is followed closely by the baby's shoulders and body - the newborn twisting, appearing to almost wriggle into the world (bottom right). While it is no surprise that childbirth is invariably agonising, how bad does the pain actually get? From going into labour, to delivering your baby and the aftermath, here leading experts reveal to Daily Mail Online what really happens when your baby makes its appearance.