Three Years After Being Separated Conjoined Twins Celebrate New Lives

Sep 26, 2020 by apost team

In 2017, conjoined twins Erin and Abby Delaney, from North Carolina, captured the attention of the world when they survived a lengthy, complicated surgery to separate their attached heads. Now aged four, the twins are thriving.

Eleven weeks into her pregnancy, Heather Delaney's doctors discovered her twins would be conjoined, attached at the head. That's when she and her husband, Riley Delaney, consulted with the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) about separation surgery.

According to CHOP, twins being conjoined at the head is the rarest form, occurring in just six out of ten million births. Doctors were also wary of separating the twins as they were completely fused as they were connected deep in their brain tissue. Additionally, medical professionals were worries the babies shared a superior sagittal sinus, a critical vessel responsible for the transfer of blood from the brain to the heart.

"We had no expectations," mom Heather Delaney told Good Morning America last year. 

"The fact they are doing as well as they are is amazing to us. It's really cool to watch them grow and change and turn into these little people."It’s the fear that you live with when giving up your children to go under the scalpel while still young. Having to let your child go for a surgery that you can’t help relieve leaves a parent feeling helpless.

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Despite the risks, the Delaney twins underwent surgery in 2017 at just 11 months old. The surgery lasted 11 hours and required a 30 member team.

 "We had no expectations," mom Heather Delaney told Good Morning America last year. 

"The fact they are doing as well as they are is amazing to us. It's really cool to watch them grow and change and turn into these little people. "It’s the fear that you live with when giving up your children to go under the scalpel while still young. Having to let your child go for a surgery that you can’t help relieve leaves a parent feeling helpless.

With the surgery behind them, the Delaney twins still had a long way to recovery ahead of them. Both twins spent more than a year in the hospital following their surgery, receiving physical, occupational, and speech therapy. 

Parents Riley and Heather stayed at the Philadelphia Ronald McDonald House the entire time before they were finally to return home in North Carolina in 2017 just in time for Thanksgiving.

"They're both super happy little girls," Delaney told GMA. "The fact they are doing as well as they are is amazing to us."

Since their massive feat, the twins have garnered a large following from around the world of people who admire them for their immense strength. Their mom Heather shares regular updates on her Facebook page concerning the girls and their progress. 

In a recent update, the doting mom shared that Erin has just started walking, with her sister Abby following suit. 

Heather also shared, however, that although she receives much support regarding her daughters, others can be cruel. According to a post she shared in early September, she became distraught when she found out that Youtube had taken down a video about her daughters' recovery because it was deemed "inappropriate content."

"This isn’t about a video, or likes, or views, or anything like that. It is feeling like YouTube thinks that our story isn’t worthy of their site," she wrote. "That my beautiful children are somehow inappropriate content. I’ve been in tears several times because of this and how much it hurts. I can’t even seem to get the right words out to explain how we feel about this."

Thankfully, the video streaming giant reversed their decision and reinstated the video a few weeks later.

Heather also shares updates about the twins on her blog. In her most recent post, she revealed that the girls are still attending therapy four times a week, and gave much insight on how the girls are doing as they grow.

"We call them the babies so often and we are trying to stop since they are almost 4," Heather wrote in her most recent post. "It feels like just yesterday we were in the hospital holding two tiny little sweet babies who are now full blown toddlers who are turning into kids! It's so exciting to watch every milestone they hit. 

"It is amazing how fast time has gone.  Being in the hospital and dealing with separation almost feels like a dream.  I remember longing for the day where they were separate people.  And now them being attached feels like it was all a dream. 

"We are so grateful for these two little girls and are so excited to celebrate another year of their miracle lives.  We have been so blessed with them and can't wait to see all the new things they are going to keep doing and all the big things they are going to keep achieving!"

It's such a touching story to see two innocent young sisters fight through surgeries, medication, and therapy to become well. Their story of untold strength deserves more recognition. You could let people know of these two sisters through spreading their life journey.