Taken from The Province Newspaper, Oct. 26, 2006.

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"Mom Gives Birth to Conjoined Twins"

Vancouver: Krista and Tatiana joined at side of head; mother, girls 'doing well'.


Conjoined twins Krista and Tatiana were doing well last night after being born by caesarean section earlier in the day.

"Everything went well and according to plan," said Marisa Nichini, spokeswoman for B.C. Women's Hospital and Health Centre. "[Mother and daughters] are doing well."

"The babies upon delivery were wiggly, vigorous, and very vocal."

The identical twins are fused at the head, a medical condition so rare that it happens only once ever 2 1/2 million births.

Before the babies left the operating room for the neonatal intensive-care unit, mom and dad visited with the girls and held their hands. Proud parents Felicia Simms and Brendan Hogan ov Vernon issued a statement thanking them for their support and asking for privacy so they "can enjoy Tatiana's and Krista's arrival."

"It is with great joy that [we] announce the birth of [our] twin daughters Krista and Tatiana," they said. "Big sister Rosa and big brother Chris are also thrilled to have two new sisters."

Nichini said the birth went well.

"Felicity is resting and doing well," she said. "Her partner, Brendan, was with her and she was awake throughout the whole delivery.

"Krista and Tatiana are doing fine. They're breathing on their own and very stable."

The sisters have a combined weight of 12.69 pounds and are equal in size and length, she said.

Simms, 21, who was in her 34th week of pregnancy, was in surgery for more than an hour with a team of 16 doctors. The twins were born about noon.

Before performing the C-section, the doctors split into two teams - one for each girl. To avoid confusion, physicians colour-coded the charts and equipment: one pink, the other green.

The twins are fused at the back and side of their heads, and share two lobes of the brain.

In the coming months, doctors will find out to what extent the blood vessels of the brain are shared, which will be a crucial factor in deciding whether the girls can be safely seperated.

Some 45% of conjoined twins die in the womba nd the majority of others die within the first 24 hours of life.

"The brain is very unforgiving," said Dr. James Stein, a pediatric surgeon in Los Angeles who has seperated four sets of conjoined twins.

"We know with kids that are joined at chest, belly, pelvis, we can seperate them very successfully, they will be neurologically normal. They will have restrictions on their ability to run, but we certainly expect them to walk.

"I don't think you can say that to a set joined at the head."

There's no optimal time to seperate conjoined twins, but Stein said he believes it needs to be before their first birthday.

"People identify themselves as individuals somewhere around the age of one. You gain a sense of self by that age," he said. "Our sense is that by doing it before that age that you can avoid a sense of loss."