Doctors have successfully separated conjoined twins Ximena and Scarlett Torres from Texas, the babies' father confirmed.
The operation was performed at the Driscoll Children's Hospital where the twins were transferred hours after birth. The hospital staff have been in charge of the twins' care since then.
By 11:46 a.m. on April 12, doctors were able to complete the separation of the babies. The next step was to perform individual surgeries, which have also been completed already. As these babies grow, they will be needing additional surgeries.
"Babies are out of surgery and doing great; they are asleep. Thank you all for your support and prayers, it really means a lot to us and our babies," reads the status update on the twins' Facebook page after their surgery.
Morning Breaks
When the morning of the surgery day broke, the team began what was expected to be an 18-hour operation on the twins.
Prior to that, the family surrounded the girls and prayed together with the doctors and staff of the hospital.
Smooth Surgery
Ximena and Scarlett, conjoined at the pelvis, were born on May 16, 2015. Doctors were able to determine that they share a colon, bladders and rectum. Part of the operation is to reconstruct these shared organs after separating the sisters.
By 11:10 a.m., the doctors were able to separate the girls' kidneys. From there, the family members expected that the complete separation of Ximena and Scarlett will take place in about 60 or 90 minutes.
The girls' father Raul said his daughters did not lose tremendous amounts of blood during the process and that everything ran smoothly. However, Ximena had to go back to surgery some hours later after the separation procedure to address a problem with her kidneys. She is now doing well, recovering with Scarlett.
Preparations For The Surgery
Dr. Haroon Patel from Driscoll said the surgical and medical team responsible for Ximena and Scarlett's care prepared months before the surgery.
Preparations were not only centered on the medical aspects of care. The family also took the time to prepare the girls spiritually. On April 9, the babies were baptized as a way to prepare them for the risky surgery that entails various potential complications.
Raul said they did this so that in case something happens, the girls' souls can already be with God.
Ximena and Scarlett were born with another sister, their identical triplet Catalina. Unlike the conjoined twins, Catalina was born without any medical issues.
This is not the first time that doctors in Texas were able to separate conjoined twins. In 2015, a team of doctors from Texas Children's Hospital were able to separate Knatalye Hope Mata and Adeline Faith Mata, who shared major body organs including liver, lungs, colon and intestines.
