RIYADH, 21 March 2004 — A 50-strong Saudi medical team yesterday separated Filipino Siamese twins Princess May and Princess Ann here in a complex and delicate 14-hour operation.
The baby girls were joined in a manner that occurs only once in every 200,000 births.
“It is their only chance, and a rare one, (of) a normal life,” said Marina Mazo, their mother, as the operation began.
They are in stable condition since the separation, which was paid for by Crown Prince Abdullah, deputy premier and commander of the National Guard.
The operation was broadcast live to million of viewers across the Kingdom and the Arab world via satellite by ART satellite channel and the Internet.
Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeea, executive director of the National Guard Health Affairs, said that the twins were joined at the abdomen, the pelvis and the perineum, with vaginas and uterus each showing positional overlap.
Dr. Ahmad Al-Shammari, a senior urologist and member of the medical team, said, “Each of the twins has complete sexual organs and they can live a normal life.
“When the twins grow up, they can get married and have children.”
A number of procedures will be carried out to fill the surgery marks covering a large part of the infants’ bodies, and all the signs of surgery will disappear after a few years, doctors said.
The surgery, which began with an initial incision at 7.30 a.m. was carried out in 12 phases.
The focus of the operation was shared veins and organs at the lower parts of the twins’ abdomen and pelvis, doctors said.
The experience of the medical team under Dr. Al-Rabeea in the field of separating Siamese twins “is one of the best in the world,” he said.
“This was the eighth separation surgery conducted in Saudi Arabia,” Dr. Al-Rabeea said.
