5 Twins Separated At Birth And How They're Doing Now
By
Suzanne in
Feel Good
On 22nd June 2016
Conjoined twins are identical twins. Twins are physically joined in utero and born conjoined. It is an extremely rare phenomenon. This bizarre condition has fascinated people for eons. Most of them are stillborn, and their chances of survival are as low as five to twenty-five percent.
Luckily, medical science has progressed to a point where many conjoined twins can be successfully separated. The success of these operations is determined to a large extent by the location of the connection between the siblings. For example, if siamese twins share a brain or a heart, the likelihood that both children can be saved is reduced dramatically.
Here is a list of five sets of conjoined twins who have been separated and where they are now.
#1 Hassan and Hussein Benhaffaf
In 2009, these conjoined baby boys from Cork, Ireland were born and were given a 2% chance of survival. They were conjoined at the area between the pelvis and chest and were successfully separated after a harrowing 14-hour surgery.
#2 Here are the little guys 22 months after the successful separation.
Unfortunately, each twin could only be left with a single leg, but that hasn't stopped these dudes from experiencing what life has to offer.
#3 They were each given a prosthetic leg to supplement their stride.
You have to see these young boys now that they've entered grade school!
#4 Here are Hassan and Hussein six years after their groundbreaking surgery, walking together on their first day of school.
The young men have matured so much and are doing pretty well at their new school. In an interview, their mother Angela said, "I have to watch them because they're taking off, I never thought I'd say that, that I have to keep up with them."
#5 Yurelia and Fiorella Rocha-Arias
The two Costa Rican girls Yurelia & Fiorella Roch-Arias were born being conjoined at heart & sternum. At the age of two, in 2007, they underwent a surgery at Lucile Packard Children Hospital to get separated.
#6 Here is an illustration depicting the organs shared between the twins.
Aspects of the liver and right atrium of the heart were conjoined, significantly complicating the 12-hour surgery that required 24 doctors.
#7 While the girls will likely have heart complications for their entire lives, the surgery was a success.
Here are Yurelia and Fiorella after their surgery. Photos of the separated twins have since surfaced on the internet. So what do they look like now?
#8 Here they are in 2014!
In this picture, the girls were going into 3rd grade. They still receive medical supervision for complications from the surgery, but otherwise, they are doing great!
#9 Emily and Caitlin Copeland
The twin Emily & Caitlin Copeland were born in the year 1996 at Houston, Texas. Their mother Crystal Copeland knew before their birth that her babies are conjoined, at the birth when doctors found the twins shared only liver, they planned a surgery to separate them. The final operation took place at Children's Memorial Hermann Hospital in Houston, Texas.
#10 After the successful surgery, the twins were on the cover of H magazine with Dr Kavin Lally, the lea
So the surgery went really well, but where are the twins now??
#11 Here are the girls now, again with Dr. Lally.
You have to hear about what they are up to now. Not only are the twins doing well, they recently graduated as co-valedictorians from their high school and are both involved in sports.
#12 Rital and Ritag Gaboura
The sisters, who were born in Khartoum, Sudan. They were born conjoined at head. In September 2011, twin girls were successfully separated by British doctors. This rare condition has a survival rate of roughly 1 in 10 million.
#13 Here is a model of the conjoined heads of Ritag and Rital that was used to plan detailed aspects of surgery.
The twins were connected only by the skull. Brain tissue was not shared between them, a situation lending itself to surgical separation.
#14 Here the twins are after their surgery!
Look at those smiles. The doctors at Great Ormond did an incredible job and have received praise for their expertise in these types of separation surgeries.
#15 While we haven't had an update beyond 2012 for Rital and Ritag, they have been progressively recovering from their experience.
They've had to wear modified helmets to aid their recovery, but by the looks of it, they are starting to get pretty big! Rital and Ritag are pictured here with their very happy parents Abdelmajeed and Enas.
#16 Angelica & Angelina Sabuco
Angelica &Angelina Sabuco were born conjoined at chest and abdomen. The 2-year olds were separated Nov 2011 in 10-hour surgery at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital. The surgery involved several months of planning and specialist from all the departments of the hospital.
#17 The Riskiest part of Operation Was Dividing Girl’s Fused Liver
The operation took long months of planning and required separation of livers, diaphragms, breastbones & chest. According to the surgeons, the surgery was less complex as the girls shared fewer organs.
#18 Here they are now
Angelica and Angelina are now running around, they make new friends. According to doctors they are thriving since their operation.
