This wasn’t an easy procedure, but doctors made it happen.
Sixteen-week-old sisters JamieLynn Rae and AmieLynn Rose Finley, a pair of conjoined twins, were successfully separated after undergoing a complex surgery.
According to CBS News, the 11-hour surgery marked a first for the Cook Children’s Medical Center in Fort Worth, TX.
The operation took the help of 25 medical professionals, including six surgeons, in an attempt to properly separate the babies.
“This is a historic, amazing day,” said Wini King, senior vice president and chief of communications, diversity, equity and inclusion for the Cook Children’s Health Care System, during a news conference on Wednesday.
“This is a magical moment for Cook Children’s,” the hospital’s president and CEO, Rick Merrill said during his remarks at the conference.
Dr. José Iglesias, M.D., medical director of pediatric surgery, and the lead surgeon on the twins’ procedure, said the infants are in recovery and under close watch as there are still several risks to look out for.
“We are very happy with their progress at this point,” Dr. Iglesias said.
“They’re going to grow up into the little girls that they’re supposed to be: independent and feisty, like they’ve already shown us,” Iglesias added. “So, we’re very thankful with that so far.”
A news release from the hospital stated that medical experts from across multiple specialties collaborated on the complex surgery. It is a rare case, estimated to occur in 1-in-200,000 live births.
The Finley sisters were born as omphalopagus twins, joined at the lower part of their breastbone to their bellybutton, sharing a liver.
AmieLynn and JamieLynn were born prematurely at the Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital on October 3, to their parents Amanda Arciniega and James Finley.
The twins weighed 4 pounds, 7.8 ounces at the 34-weeks gestation mark.