{"id":6925,"date":"2025-11-05T13:38:27","date_gmt":"2025-11-05T13:38:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/time.amazingstory.blog\/?p=6925"},"modified":"2025-11-05T13:38:28","modified_gmt":"2025-11-05T13:38:28","slug":"conjoined-twins-successfully-separated-graduate-from-kindergarten-despite-medical-challenges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/time.amazingstory.blog\/?p=6925","title":{"rendered":"Conjoined twins successfully separated, graduate from kindergarten despite medical challenges"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"970\" src=\"https:\/\/time.amazingstory.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/image-63.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-6926\" srcset=\"https:\/\/time.amazingstory.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/image-63.png 1000w, https:\/\/time.amazingstory.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/image-63-300x291.png 300w, https:\/\/time.amazingstory.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/image-63-768x745.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Conjoined twins Abby and Erin Delaney, who had only a 2% chance of survival at birth, recently reached an impressive milestone: both have graduated from kindergarten.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Born prematurely at 30 weeks on July 24, 2016, they faced a very complex medical situation from the start.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Their mother discovered at 11 weeks of pregnancy that her daughters were craniopagus, joined at the skull. This rare condition made the twins extremely vulnerable to serious complications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The girls shared a skull, skin, and a vital blood vessel, the \u201csuperior sagittal sinus,\u201d which drains blood from the brain. On June 6, 2017, they underwent an 11-hour separation surgery at the Children\u2019s Hospital of Philadelphia. Although the operation carried many risks, it was a success. After the surgery, Abby and Erin spent five months in the hospital recovering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Today, despite slower progress than their peers, they have successfully graduated from kindergarten, a testament to their courage and that of their parents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\ud83d\udc49\" src=\"https:\/\/s.w.org\/images\/core\/emoji\/16.0.1\/svg\/1f449.svg\">&nbsp;See photos of them after the separation and already grown up via the link in the first comment&nbsp;<img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\ud83d\udc47\" src=\"https:\/\/s.w.org\/images\/core\/emoji\/16.0.1\/svg\/1f447.svg\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\ud83d\udc47\" src=\"https:\/\/s.w.org\/images\/core\/emoji\/16.0.1\/svg\/1f447.svg\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\ud83d\udc47\" src=\"https:\/\/s.w.org\/images\/core\/emoji\/16.0.1\/svg\/1f447.svg\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\ud83d\udc47\" src=\"https:\/\/s.w.org\/images\/core\/emoji\/16.0.1\/svg\/1f447.svg\">.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cool-haircuts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/snapedit_1761286279645.jpeg\" alt=\"Conjoined twins successfully separated, graduate from kindergarten despite medical challenges\" class=\"wp-image-11669\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/cool-haircuts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/snapedit_1761286279645.jpeg\"><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The parents, Heather and Ryley Delaney, were deeply shocked when they learned early in the pregnancy that their twins were joined at the head.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Heather recalls: \u201cIt was an enormous shock. We never imagined this could actually happen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201d At birth, doctors gave them barely a 2% chance of survival. Hope arose when they discovered that a rare surgical procedure could offer a chance at separation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cool-haircuts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/snapedit_1761286318670.jpeg\" alt=\"Conjoined twins successfully separated, graduate from kindergarten despite medical challenges\" class=\"wp-image-11670\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/cool-haircuts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/snapedit_1761286318670.jpeg\"><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Weighing about 2.7 kg at birth, the twins were immediately placed in neonatal intensive care before being operated on in June 2017.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After 11 hours of intense surgery, they spent several months in the hospital recovering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Today Erin has been walking since age 5, while Abby is just beginning to learn to walk. Both girls attend adapted classes in a traditional school and make progress every day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cool-haircuts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/snapedit_1761286406080.jpeg\" alt=\"Conjoined twins successfully separated, graduate from kindergarten despite medical challenges\" class=\"wp-image-11671\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/cool-haircuts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/snapedit_1761286406080.jpeg\"><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Recently, they achieved a goal many thought impossible: graduating from kindergarten.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Erin received a \u201cDolphin Award\u201d for her \u201cadventurous heart,\u201d while Abby won a \u201cDeer Award\u201d for her kindness. Their mother, Heather, concludes: \u201cThe sky is their limit.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cool-haircuts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/snapedit_1761286298875.jpeg\" alt=\"Conjoined twins successfully separated, graduate from kindergarten despite medical challenges\" class=\"wp-image-11672\"\/><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>Conjoined twins Abby and Erin Delaney, who had only a 2% chance of survival at birth, recently reached an impressive milestone: both have graduated from <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/time.amazingstory.blog\/?p=6925\" title=\"Conjoined twins successfully separated, graduate from kindergarten despite medical challenges\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6926,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6925","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorised"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/time.amazingstory.blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6925","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/time.amazingstory.blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/time.amazingstory.blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/time.amazingstory.blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/time.amazingstory.blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6925"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/time.amazingstory.blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6925\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6927,"href":"https:\/\/time.amazingstory.blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6925\/revisions\/6927"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/time.amazingstory.blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6926"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/time.amazingstory.blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6925"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/time.amazingstory.blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6925"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/time.amazingstory.blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6925"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}