Successfully separated conjoined twins return to Fort Worth home for first time after surgery

Ciara McCarthy
Updated ·2 min read
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When JamieLynn and AmieLynn entered the world on Oct. 3, the twin sisters were joined at the chest and shared a liver.

Now, after an 11-hour surgery to successfully separate the twins and months of additional hospital care, both girls have returned to their Fort Worth home for the first time.

The twins were the first pair to be successfully separated at Cook Children’s Medical Center in surgery in January. One daughter, JamieLynn, was released from the hospital March 21. Now, her sister AmieLynn can join her.

Cook Children’s physicians and the girls’ parents, Amanda Arciniega and James Finley, announced the latest step in their journey at a press conference Wednesday.

When they were born, the girls were joined from the lower part of their breast bone to their belly button, said their doctor Dr. José Iglesias, the lead surgeon in their separation operation, in January. For the first 16 weeks of their lives, the twins were face-to-face. They shared a liver that was effectively a double liver, Iglesias said, but had separate hearts and lungs. Their diaphragms also had to be divided. At least 25 health care workers participated in the surgery.

After the surgery, the girls’ doctors said they would need to focus on letting their lungs heal.

Conjoined twins include any infants who are born with their bodies connected. At least three out of every four conjoined twins are joined partially in the chest, and share one or more organs, according to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

Exact numbers of how many conjoined twins are born each year, and how many survive, are not known. Estimates vary widely, from 1 in every 30,000 live births to 1 in every 200,000 live births. Although the exact frequency is unknown, physicians do know that conjoined twins have small chances of survival.

The Finley family has created a fund at the EECU Community Foundation, to help cover the cost of the girls’ future health needs. The family also has a baby registry at Walmart. Included on the wish list is a stroller big enough for two.