Sydney star Gary Rohan will be given as much time as he needs away from AFL to deal with difficult family circumstances.

Rohan has been ruled out of Saturday’s match against the Western Bulldogs after the birth of his twin daughters, only one of whom survived.

Rohan’s wife Amie gave birth to their first children on Thursday, after they had revealed in November that one of the daughters had been diagnosed with anencephaly, a usually fatal neural tube defect.

Rohan missed the Swans’ season-opener against West Coast in Perth to remain in Sydney with his wife but he played the subsequent two home games.

Rohan has shared his family’s pregnancy journey publicly since November and said talking openly about the situation “has been our therapy, letting our emotions out has been the best thing for us personally.”

Anencephaly is a condition that prevents normal development of the brain and the bones of the skull.

“Since our brain tells our heart to beat, our lungs to breath, our legs to move and so on, these babies live from a few moments to a few hours after birth,” Rohan posted on Instagram in November.

“Ames and I have known about this since our 11 week scan, and since knowing, we’ve been constantly discussing what we should do, how we should tell people and if we should tell people at all.

“We come to the decision that either way, BOTH our babies are beautiful, precious human beings, with the only thing being that sadly one’s life is destined to be cut short.”

“There are going to be some really difficult days ahead but also many happy ones, and we want to share each and every one of those moments with you all.”