Conjoined twin girls born July 2016 were finally sent home this month in time for Thanksgiving after being surgically separated in June.
Erin and Abby Delaney were born July 24, 2016, ten weeks ahead of their due date, to North Carolina residents Heather and Riley Delaney, according to WLOS. The Delaneys began seeking treatment at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia after learning the twins were conjoined in-utero, and the girls remained at the hospital, receiving therapy and medical care, for over 400 days after their birth.
The twins were separated by a team of 30 doctors June 6 in an 11-hour surgery, according to The Charlotte Observer.
The girls were attached to the head and had conjoined brains. The surgery separated their blood flow and brain membranes. Doctors used a synthetic membrane and skin to protect the brain barriers.
They remained in the hospital for another 168 days after the surgery so doctors could monitor their recovery and adaptation. Philadelphia doctors are positive about the girls’ future, according to The Charlotte Observer.
In a statement issued by the hospital, Heather said she can’t wait to see what the future holds for her daughters, adding that it was “very neat for Riley and me to have a front-row seat to this.”
Twins' experiences recounted
In a blog post on a blog created by the Delaneys to document the twins’ experiences, Heather said both girls experienced brain hemorrhaging in the days after the surgery and were placed in induced comas for several weeks to allow them to recover.
Erin was discharged in early October from Jordan Lake, followed in November by Abby, according to the Delaneys’ blog. “These past few months have been filled with every emotion I could think of,” Heather wrote Oct. 22. “Thank you so much for those of you who stuck with us through this time.”
GoFundMe page set up
The Delaneys have a GoFundMe account open for people interested in donating, as well as a Baby Registry wishlist on Amazon full of gifts people can donate to the girls for Christmas.
The Delaneys have raised more than $29,000 through the GoFundMe and have a stated goal of $100,000 to cover medical expenses and baby items for the girls.
The vast majority of Conjoined Twins - about 70 percent - are girls, according to CNN, although scientists do not know why. Conjoined twins are always identical, and occur at a rate of about 1 in 200,000 births. Scientists theorize that conjoined twins are caused by a fertilized egg that divides into two - the normal process for identical twins - but never fully separates.
