THE family of a set of 4-month-old twin boys who were diagnosed with liver problems at Shenzhen Children’s Hospital is too financially strapped to pay for the twins’ medical treatment, local TV reported Thursday.

According to the TV news, the twin boys developed a fever as high as 41.5 degrees Celsius on Chinese New Year’s Eve and were taken by their grandfather to nearby Shenzhen Overseas Chinese Hospital in Pinghu, Longgang District.

Doctors at the hospital told the grandfather, identified as Tan, to take the baby boys to a larger hospital with better medical resources as an examination suggested that the twins’ fever might be caused by liver problems.

Tan took the twins to Shenzhen Children’s Hospital and the elder boy was transferred to the ICU. Doctors said the twins’ symptom is hepatomegaly, but the cause is unknown.

However, the mother of the twins has not shown up at the hospital. Tan said he had no idea where she was.

Tan’s son met his girlfriend at a wholesale market where he worked, and the young couple had their first daughter when they were both only 16. They are now parents of three at age 19 although they aren’t married as they haven’t reached the legal age for marriage, Tan said of his son.

According to Tan’s son, his girlfriend’s parents asked for 100,000 yuan (US$14,940) as a dowry after Tan proposed to meet his girlfriend’s parents earlier this year, and they said they would not let them see their daughter again without receiving the money.

Tan stopped working to take care of the twins, and his son earns 3,000 yuan a month, which is not enough to pay for the twins’ treatment. Donations for the twins are being collected on Shuidichou, an online donation platform. (Wang Jingli)