Separated conjoined twins living healthy lives

Gao Xirong, second from left, and the 14-year-old twin sisters. [Photo from web]

On April 1, 2009, doctors at Hunan Children's Hospital in Central China performed a successful surgery to separate a pair of conjoined twin girls in a procedure that took 3 hours and 13 minutes. Now, over a decade later, the girls have remained healthy and happy, living full lives.

The twins – Luo Hong and Luo Lan — were born in Hunan province connected from their breastbones to their abdomens and sharing one liver. This was extremely rare, as only about three in every 100,000 live births result in conjoined twins. They were separated just two weeks after birth.

Though the surgery went smoothly, the twins' condition was still complicated. Before being transferred to the general ward, they had been in the neonatal intensive care unit under observation by a medical team led by Gao Xirong, now director of the hospital's neonatology department.

More than two months later, the twins were discharged from the hospital. In subsequent years, the hospital continued to care for the twins by giving them free physical examinations every year.

"We have also visited their home," Gao said. "Now, both girls are 1.63 meters tall, just like me. And their intellectual and physical development are normal," she said with relief.

"We are grateful to the hospital and people who have long shown their love for us," said Luo Guoquan, the twins' father.

Luo Lan, the younger sister, said she wants to be a doctor and help more people.