22 Specialists Separate Conjoined Twins

A long-anticipated moment arrived for a Filipino family in Saudi Arabia this week, when 2-year-old twins Olivia and Gianna were surgically separated after being born joined from chest to abdomen. The six-hour, six-stage operation Thursday at King Abdullah Specialist Children's Hospital in Riyadh involved 22 specialists and was overseen by the Saudi Conjoined Twins Program. All medical and aftercare costs are being covered by the program, the Independent reports.

The girls, who shared parts of the heart's lining and their liver in a rare "thoraco-omphalopagus" connection, are in intensive care and stable, said Dr. Ali Al-Shahri, who described the procedure as having gone smoothly. He said that the team is monitoring vital signs and providing respiratory support, and that patients in similar cases typically spend three to five days in intensive care. "This is the day we have been waiting for," their mother, Ginalyn Manuel, said, calling it the start of "normal lives" for her daughters. Saudi officials said the program has carried out more than 70 operations on conjoined twins; Olivia and Gianna are the fourth pair to be fully separated.