Two little girls started their lives connected to one another in a way that few siblings experience. They were conjoined twins. Allison and Amelia Tucker have been successfully surgically separated from each other. The twins need to undergo some therapy, but are doing well.
Allison June Tucker, and Amelia Lee Tucker, were born as conjoined twins. According to the University of Maryland Medical Center, this is rare. It only occurs in one out of every 200,000 live births. Their survival rate is not very high. Somewhere between 40% and 60% of conjoined twins are stillborn. Another 35% survive until birth, (but only live for a day). The overall survival rate is between 5% and 25%. Those are not good odds!
The girls were connected to each other at their abdomen and lower chest. This is called an omphalopagus connection. In their case, the twins were born sharing a chest wall, diaphragm, pericardium, and liver.
On November 7, 2012, Allison and Amelia underwent a seven-hour surgery. The purpose of the surgery was to separate the twins from each other. They were 8 months old at the time.
In order to prepare the girl’s bodies for the separation, plastic surgeon Dr. David Low placed skin expanders into both girls. This was to increase the skin surface prior to surgery so that the “extra” skin could be used to close the areas that were left open after the surgery.
The surgery was preformed at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. It required around 40 medical professionals. Each girl had a team assigned to her during the surgery.
Allison and Amelia are now 10 months old. Allison was officially discharged on December 17, 2012. Amelia will need to stay at the hospital a bit longer, until after the new year.
The girls still have a long way to go. Each will need physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech therapy. There are “milestones” that babies are typically supposed to reach by a certain age that the girls have not reached yet due to being conjoined.
I would imagine that “tummy time” might be difficult, if not impossible, while the two babies are connected at their abdomens. The girls need to learn to sit up, to roll over, and will have to “catch up” to where their peers would be at 10 months old. Doctors feel that the babies are “rehab-able”.
It sounds like they are doing well, and are expected to make a lot of progress. One twin even gets to spend Christmas at home with the rest of the family this year. It is always nice when a story that could have ended in sadness results in a very happy outcome!