RI twin girls to be separated

RI twin girls to be separated

Singapore doctors have concluded it is safe to carry out surgery to separate conjoined Indonesian twin baby girls attached at the hip and abdomen, hospital officials said on Thursday.

"Our surgeons, in consultation with a multi-disciplinary team of specialists, reviewed the twins and concluded that it was technically possible to separate them," KK Women's and Children's Hospital said in a statement.

The statement however did not say when they would carry out the operation on the one-year-old twins brought to Singapore in February.

But it said the medical team considered the "long-term implications" of a separation, including whether the twins would be able to sit or walk and if the family could cope with the required care.

"We are in the process of contacting the medical doctors in Indonesia to form a working partnership with them for the long- term care required for the children after they return home," the statement said.

Doctors at the KK Women's and Children's Hospital carried out a medical assessment on the twins after being approached by physicians from another healthcare service provider, the Parkway Group, to do a feasibility study.

They had earlier undergone tests by doctors at Mount Elizabeth hospital which is part of the Parkway Group.

The twin girls, who were not identified, are joined at the hip and abdomen and have three legs between them, the Straits Times reported. --AFP