Siamese Twins Successfully Separated at North Texas Hospital

FORT WORTH, Texas. In the 105-year history of the Cook Children’s Medical Center, its doctors have never performed an operation to separate Siamese twins.

Sisters Amy Lynn and Jamie Lynn Ray Finley were born in October 2022, hospital staff said at a press conference on Wednesday, January 25, 2023.

Monday’s operation lasted 11 hours and involved 25 different medical professionals, including six surgeons.

According to staff, both twins are getting better.

“The separation operation will give Amy Lynn and Jamie Lynn the best opportunity to improve their health and development, and grow as the unique, individual little girls they have been since birth, regardless of their physical connection as Siamese twins,” José said. L. Iglesias. , MD, Medical Director of the Department of Pediatric Surgery at Cook Children’s Medical Center and Lead Surgeon of the Department of Twin Surgery.

Siamese twins are very rare. Hospital staff estimate that Siamese twins are born between 1 and 200,000 live births, and it is said that only 5 to 8 Siamese twins worldwide survive the first days after birth.

The girls were born on October 3, they looked face to face and connected from the bottom of the breastbones to the navel. They also shared a liver and together they only weighed 4 pounds 7.8 ounces.

Preparations for the operation took months. According to the doctors, the Cook Children’s team studied the pictures of the girls, built models of their anatomy, outlined possible surgical solutions and rehearsed the operation.

“At this stage of AmyLynn and JamieLynn’s growth and development, it’s the perfect time to have surgery,” said Dr. Mary Frances Lynch, a neonatologist at Cook Children’s Medical Center.

The doctors added that the operation was so intense that each twin needed his own team. During the operation, doctors, nurses and technicians were divided into two teams, one for each twin.

The Jameel-Lynn team wore purple caps and the Amy-Lynn team wore green caps. Both girls had their nails painted accordingly.

During the press conference, the girls’ parents, James Finley and Amanda Arciniega, addressed the journalists. Arsignega had tears in her eyes as she said she was too emotional to speak.

However, she said through tears that she told her girls “mom’s here” as soon as she could see them after the operation.

“We have learned to be strong,” Finley said. “We thought, ‘Wow, why us? Why did God choose us to be the parents of these girls? And I pray we have faith… we just had to walk the steps.”

And if there was any doubt, Finlay assured the crowd on Wednesday that his girls are like all twins.

“They often fight,” he laughed.