While twins are considered an exciting adventure, the joy of having multiple births can quickly become a nightmare when parents discover that their two babies are conjoined.
Heather and Riley Delaney discovered the problems associated with conjoined twins first-hand when they discovered that their two daughters were going to be born with their heads joined together.
Not only were the twins conjoined, but they were born ten weeks premature following an emergency c-section. Because of their early birth, the two girls weighed only two pounds each. Their parents named them Erin and Abbey, as reported by the children‘s hospital association of Philadelphia.
Rather than simply being joined with skin, the twin girls also shared some of the same blood vessels and brain tissue, making the plan to separate them a risky procedure.
Twins who are joined at the head are extremely rare with only six out of every ten-million twins suffering from the condition called “craniopagus conjoined twins”.
Since the girls were born so early and were so small, the process of separating them was too difficult to tackle immediately after birth. Instead, the girls were forced to live conjoined for almost as year while the surgeons prepared them for the procedure.
The actual operation took fourteen hours to accomplish.
Not only did the twins undergo a grueling procedure, but they were the youngest twins to ever be successful separated after being joined at the head.
“This is one of the earliest separations of craniopagus conjoined twins ever recorded,” said Dr. Taylor.
The surgeries didn’t end with the one procedure; instead, the twins were put through additional surgeries and treatments to help reshape parts of their missing skulls.
Since the girls had been unable to walk or crawl while their heads were joined together, they also had to go through some physical therapy to strengthen their legs.
While the entire ordeal was undoubtedly scary and stressful to their parents, it has now been more than a year since the girls were separated.
Heather and Riley report that the surgery was well worth it since it gave them the chance to spend one-on-one time with each of their girls.
“Although this has been a long journey, with many ups and downs, Riley and I are thrilled to see how well the girls are doing today,” said Heather Delaney, the twins’ mother.
How are the girls doing now? Erin and Abbey are two very happy, enthusiastic toddlers who are thriving in life. Their parents work to share the story to support their daughters and offer hope for other families with conjoined twins.
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