Siamese Twin Boys Are Separated
In a 4 1/2-hour operation Wednesday, surgeons at the UC San Diego Medical Center separated month-old Siamese twin boys born to a couple from Tijuana.
Dr. Mary Hilfiker, chief of pediatric surgery, said the twins, Hever Aron and Roman Alan Moreno, were in stable condition and will probably remain at the hospital for two to four weeks. The two were joined at the chest, abdomen and liver.
“We were very fortunate that these boys were healthy,” said Hilfiker, “and where they were joined was easily separated.”
Andrea Moreno, 24, and Roman Moreno, 23, a truck driver, said that they “asked God to give us both babies back or at least spare one.”
The Morenos have a 3-year-old daughter. Because the couple have no medical insurance, the hospital will absorb the cost of the operation and hospitalization, estimated to be $180,000.
The Moreno twins are the third set of conjoined twins to be separated in Southern California since January.
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