Doctors Successfully Separate Baby Boy From His Parasitic Twin In Gruelling 15-Hour Operation

Pregnancy is usually an exciting time for expectant parents, however, it's not without its dangers. One-in-three pregnancies end in a miscarriage during the first trimester and, unfortunately, various factors can lead to abnormalities even when a baby is carried to term.

One of the rarest fetal abnormalities is a parasitic twin. This happens when one identical twin stops developing properly in the womb, causing problems for its healthy sibling by failing to detach from their body. The odds of having a parasitic twin are one in a million.



While cases of parasitic twins are rare, thanks to developments in modern medicine, this condition does not necessarily equate to a death sentence for the healthy baby - however, because the parasitic twin has not developed properly, their death is inevitable.

The only reason parasitic twins are able to survive is because they live off of their healthy twin's bodily functions.



If the twins aren't separated, this can put a deadly amount of strain on the healthy twin. Although there have been documented cases of people carrying around their parasitic twins well into adulthood without knowing because they died in the womb.



The twins in this case were separated by surgeons at the King Abdullah Specialised Children's Hospital in the Saudi capital Riyadh. Their parents, whose names are not known, had called their healthy twin, a boy, Haneen, and named his parasitic sister Farah.

Tragically, Farah was born with no lungs or heart and possessed very little brain tissue.

To save the life of Haneen, doctors had to complete a grueling 15-hour operation. They began work at 8:00 am and did not finish until 11:00 pm.



The complex operation involved separating the twins' intestines and liver. After this, doctors had to battle to separate their urinary system and pelvis. The final stage of the procedure involved separating them by the hips, because they were connected at the abdomen.



The operation's success was announced by Dr. Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz Al-Rabiah.

During the operation, he said, "The surgery is going on as planned successfully, and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will record it as the 45th successful twin separation surgery."

The operation sadly ended Farah's life, but Haneen survived. His current condition is not known.

So what causes parasitic twins? The answer to this question will hopefully be discovered in the near future. For now, doctors have hypothesized that it's the result of a restricted blood supply in the womb, causing one twin to fail to develop properly.

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