Amanda Arciniega and James Finley of Saginaw, Texas, say they found out they were carrying conjoined twins during a prenatal scan.
Arciniega gave birth to her daughters at Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital in Fort Worth in October.
According to Dr. Ben Gbulie, a plastic surgeon at Cook Children’s, the 11-hour procedure on Monday required separating the girls’ liver and skin, fascia, and colon.
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During the procedure, the medical staff was separated into two teams to care for the two girls, with AmieLynn’s team wearing green hats and JamieLynn’s team wearing purple hats.
According to Dr. Jose Iglesias, medical director of pediatric surgery at Cook Children’s Medical Center and the primary surgeon for the twins’ separation procedure, only a tiny number of conjoined twins survive through birth.
“There are only around five or eight conjoined twins in the world that reach and stay viable after delivery, at least for the first few days,” he stated. “So it’s a pretty unique circumstance.”
According to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, which has performed more than two dozen separation surgery, conjoined twins occur once every 50,000 to 60,000 births, and around 75% of conjoined twins are female.
“They’re both doing fantastic,” he remarked. “The crew delivered beautifully, and we’re thrilled.”
