After 27 hours in surgery, a pair of twin boys joined at the head have been successfully separated.
Anias and Jadon McDonald, both 13 months old, underwent the life-threatening operation at the Children’s Hospital in New York.
They are now recovering in hospital as they begin their new lives apart.
The separating procedure took around 16 hours, with another several hours of plastic surgery needed to rebuild the skulls and make them whole.
Dr Goodrich is one of the world’s leading experts on so-called craniopagus surgery. This was his seventh such surgery performed by Dr Goodrich and the longest. It is only the 52nd craniopagus separation surgery worldwide since 1952.
Parents Nicole and Christian decided to go ahead with the operation, even though it carried major risks, including death or long-term brain damage for the boys.
But 80 percent of twins joined at the head will die if not separated by age two.
14 Responses
That is really really shocking for me hope they are well rested and healthy
WOOOOOO this is so AMAZING!
Hope the boys get better soon xoxo
This is so crazy. I can’t believe it.
whoa! that is amazing! im glad they survived!!! i wonder what they look like now.
Awwh. I feel so sad. But luckily they survived so YAY
I’m soo glad that the surgery turned out as a sucsess.
That’s so bad hope they get better
WOW i hope that they get better and recover
It must of cost heaps!
wow! thats not usal
thats sad!!! Hope they recover:(
sad but super happy that they were separated
That sounds so so sad:(