Two 2-year-old conjoined twins from Ethiopia have been separated after a complex 25-hour surgery at SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital in St. Louis, Missouri, United States.
The girls, Hiyab and Wuhbto, were born with craniopagus, an extremely rare condition in which twins are joined at the head. In their case, they were connected while facing in opposite directions, meaning they could hear each other but could not see each other’s faces.
Their successful separation was announced by the hospital on Wednesday, following an operation carried out in February. Surgeons had to carefully separate shared blood vessels during the high-risk procedure.
Craniopagus accounts for less than 6% of all conjoined twin cases, according to the National Library of Medicine, and occurs in approximately one in every 2.5 million live births.
Hiyab and Wuhbto were taken from Ethiopia to Missouri in 2025 after doctors determined that remaining joined could create significant long-term health risks.
A team of nearly 30 medical specialists then spent almost a year preparing for the operation, with the hospital describing the procedure as complex and high-stakes.
The twins’ parents were unable to secure visas to travel from Ethiopia and therefore remained in the country while the girls travelled to the United States with a guardian.
The hospital said the treatment was made possible through a global network of pediatric healthcare providers and charity organisations.
Dr. Joanna Kemp, who led the surgical team, said the twins’ brains “were mostly separate,” although doctors had to account for “small areas that were fused” together.
Kemp, who is the first female neurosurgeon in the United States to perform this type of surgery, described the moment the girls were separated as “quite wild”, particularly seeing them “even a few feet apart in that operating room.”
“I think all of us kinda had this moment of pause,” Kemp said.
Following the separation, the girls have continued their recovery and rehabilitation at Ranken Jordan Pediatric Bridge Hospital in Maryland Heights, Missouri.
The hospital said Wuhbto has already undergone a successful cranioplasty to complete the repair of her skull. Hiyab is expected to undergo a similar procedure later this fall.
The hospital described the progress as a “major milestone in their surgical journey”.
SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital told CBS News that it hopes the sisters will be able to return home to their family in Ethiopia in the near future.
