Miracle Twins Turn On Charm in Their Own Separate Ways

Tiny Julie Cline took her hand out of her mouth, chortled, and pointed a moist index finger at a nurse dressed in an E.T. costume.

Not to be outdone, April Cline, her twin sister, wriggled up close to E.T.’s soft flannel nose, and gave it a good chew.

Thus Los Angeles’ world-famous twins, who until August were joined at the liver, showed off the nuances that make them very different people.

At a balloon-filled reunion Saturday of babies who have “graduated” from Kaiser Permanente’s neo-natal intensive care unit in Hollywood, the six-month-old twins were a hit, drawing a crowd of nurses, doctors and well-wishers, many wanting a chance to hold the miracle babies.

Sister Is Worried

Milly Cline, the twins’ mother, was accustomed to all the attention, but she said one of her two other children, Laura, 3 1/2, had been “really worried” when told the family was going back to the hospital for the day.

“She’s afraid we have to leave the twins here again, and she’s very protective,” Cline said. “We had to assure her: ‘It’s a big party.’ ”

Separated in a 3 1/2-hour operation Aug. 19 by a 28-member surgical team, the girls are robust and wide-eyed. Scars on their chests and abdomens are the only clue that they have fought, and overcome, a crippling obstacle.

The two girls did not face the tremendous medical difficulties experienced by some Siamese twins, such as sharing organs or being joined at the head. Doctors discovered, before they were born, that their livers were fused but were separate organs. Both livers have been functioning normally since the operation, hospital officials said.

“They did well right from the beginning, from birth,” said one nurse who cared for the twins. “Julie was always keeping April awake, and it became a running joke in the nursery to shut Julie up so April could sleep.”

Their mother has slowly been weaning the children from each other since they returned home to Chino in August because she believes they need to understand what being an individual “is all about.” At first she allowed them to sleep in the same crib, but about three weeks ago she placed them in two cribs about three feet apart.

“They can’t talk yet so I don’t know what they’re thinking, but they do sometimes quiet down and I think they are communicating with each other somehow,” Cline said.

“Both are on a different schedule, but people, because the twins were once joined, expect them to act the same--eat, pee, everything together,” she said. “But they were always two individuals, and I want them to feel comfortable that way.”

At home, the twins’ two sisters, Laura and Susan, 7, have adopted a motherly attitude toward the girls, who each now weigh 15 pounds and are 25 inches long.

“Laura is trying to carry the twins herself, and I’m trying not to stop her even though she’s so small herself, because she needs to feel like a part of all this too,” Cline said.

Laura and Susan, both standing at their mother’s side, smiled shyly, and nodded when asked if they liked to help out with the twins.

Susan, said her mother, “can change diapers just like a little mom. I really miss her since she’s had to go back to school this fall.”

A Low Profile

Cline said the family has kept a low profile and settled into routine family life now that the babies have overcome the medical odds that face many Siamese twins.

Siamese twins occur once in every 50,000 to 100,000 live births, and most die within a few days, according to medical experts. Scores of twins have been separated, but in many cases the weaker of the two cannot survive, or both develop medical problems.

For the most part, Cline has put those fears behind her. She worries more about the fact that they will be teething soon, and that they’ll be a handful when they turn 2 years old.

“They reach for each other, and hold each other’s hands, and they don’t fight yet,” she said. “That will come later, oh boy.”

“People see I have twins, and of course ask me: ‘Are they identical?’ ” said Milly Cline. “I just laugh.”