{"id":295061,"date":"2023-07-21T14:39:29","date_gmt":"2023-07-21T19:39:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=295061"},"modified":"2023-07-19T21:54:15","modified_gmt":"2023-07-20T02:54:15","slug":"conjoined-twins-one-year-separation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/conjoined-twins-one-year-separation\/","title":{"rendered":"Conjoined twins doing well one year after separation surgery: &#8216;God&#8217;s gift to us&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;\" class=\"sharethis-inline-share-buttons\" ><\/div><p>Texas Children&#8217;s Hospital in Houston has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.texaschildrens.org\/about-us\/news\/releases\/texas-childrens-hospital-announces-successful-separation-conjoined-twin-brothers-lucas-and-mateo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">announced<\/a> that its doctors successfully separated conjoined twins last summer, and the boys are thriving at home today.<\/p>\n<p>When Lucas and Mateo Villalobos Barrera were born on January 18, 2022, they were connected at the lower abdomen and pelvis, and they also shared multiple organs, including the small intestines and colon. Upon learning of the boys&#8217; condition, their parents, Lorena Barrera and Alejandro Villalobos, temporarily relocated from their home in Las Vegas to Houston so that the babies would be able to receive specialized care upon their birth. As doctors monitored Lorena throughout the second half of her pregnancy, they used imaging scans and a labor and delivery simulation to prepare for caring for the twins during and after birth.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/viJ-YSIGjEo\" width=\"640\" height=\"355\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><span data-mce-type=\"bookmark\" style=\"display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;\" class=\"mce_SELRES_start\">\ufeff<\/span><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>\u201cEvery set of conjoined twins poses unique anatomical challenges that require extensive planning for a safe delivery for both mom and babies,\u201d said\u00a0Dr. Michael Belfort,\u00a0Obstetrician and Gynecologist in-Chief\u00a0at Texas Children\u2019s Hospital and Chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Baylor College of Medicine. \u201cOnce Lorena was referred to our team, she underwent diagnostic imaging that allowed us to successfully coordinate delivery and help the immediate postnatal management of the twins. With very detailed planning and simulation training, we were prepared for this complex delivery.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>After their birth, the boys were transferred to the NICU where they received specialized care for months while doctors prepared for their separation. On August 17, a team of 26 specialists successfully separated the boys in a procedure that lasted 17 hours.<\/p>\n<p><strong>READ: <em><a href=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/conjoined-twins-home-successful-separation-surgery\/\">\u2018So grateful\u2019: Conjoined twins go home after successful separation surgery<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis incredibly complex case utilized nearly every single surgical subspecialty at Texas Children&#8217;s Hospital,\u201d said Dr. Alice King, one of the hospital&#8217;s pediatric surgeons. \u201cThe size and scope of the teams involved with Mateo and Lucas\u2019s care was vast, and there are very few hospitals that could perform a procedure this multifaceted. I could not be more proud of the team responsible for this excellent outcome, and I am excited for what the future holds for these brothers.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Though the boys were discharged from the NICU in October, the family remained in Houston until last month so that Lucas and Mateo could continue to receive specialized care. After a final operation for each of them on June 28, they have returned to their home in Las Vegas, and their parents report that they are even starting to walk.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t know what else we can ask for in life,\u201d Lorena said. \u201cWe have our boys here, and that is God\u2019s gift to us. We are eternally grateful to the specialists at Texas Children\u2019s. It is from the hand of God that my children are here. The nurses and the specialists were excellent. We are very grateful indeed. This may be a long journey, but we ask that life and God give us the strength to keep looking after them and doing all the hard work.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Texas Children&#8217;s Hospital in Houston has announced that its doctors successfully separated conjoined twins last summer, and the boys are thriving at home today. When Lucas and Mateo Villalobos Barrera were born on January 18, 2022, they were connected at the lower abdomen and pelvis, and they also shared multiple organs, including the small intestines [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":607,"featured_media":295146,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false},"categories":[9455,3473],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Conjoined twins doing well one year after separation surgery: &#039;God&#039;s gift to us&#039;<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Texas Children&#039;s Hospital announced that its doctors successfully separated conjoined twins last summer, and the boys are thriving at home.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/conjoined-twins-one-year-separation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Conjoined twins doing well one year after separation surgery: &#039;God&#039;s gift to us&#039;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Texas Children&#039;s Hospital announced that its doctors successfully separated conjoined twins last summer, and the boys are thriving at home.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/conjoined-twins-one-year-separation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Live Action News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liveaction\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-07-21T19:39:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-07-20T02:54:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/twins-conjoined-go-home-villalobos-barrera.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"650\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Bridget Sielicki\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@liveaction\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@liveaction\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Bridget Sielicki\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/conjoined-twins-one-year-separation\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/conjoined-twins-one-year-separation\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Bridget Sielicki\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/354818e37fca891455094342cfaacf2f\"},\"headline\":\"Conjoined twins doing well one year after separation surgery: &#8216;God&#8217;s gift to us&#8217;\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-07-21T19:39:29+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-07-20T02:54:15+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/conjoined-twins-one-year-separation\/\"},\"wordCount\":505,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Human Interest\",\"Newsbreak\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/conjoined-twins-one-year-separation\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/conjoined-twins-one-year-separation\/\",\"name\":\"Conjoined twins doing well one year after separation surgery: 'God's gift to us'\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2023-07-21T19:39:29+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-07-20T02:54:15+00:00\",\"description\":\"Texas Children's Hospital announced that its doctors successfully separated conjoined twins last summer, and the boys are thriving at home.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/conjoined-twins-one-year-separation\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/conjoined-twins-one-year-separation\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/conjoined-twins-one-year-separation\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Conjoined twins doing well one year after separation surgery: &#8216;God&#8217;s gift to us&#8217;\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Live Action News\",\"description\":\"Covering Human Rights, Abortion, &amp; Pro-Life Issues\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Live Action\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Live-Action-Logo-Black.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Live-Action-Logo-Black.png\",\"width\":701,\"height\":710,\"caption\":\"Live Action\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liveaction\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/liveaction\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/liveactionorg\/\",\"https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/LiveActionFilms\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/LiveActionFilms\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/354818e37fca891455094342cfaacf2f\",\"name\":\"Bridget Sielicki\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9cf04f4b8f1370c0d4ec72e4c6913a37?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9cf04f4b8f1370c0d4ec72e4c6913a37?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Bridget Sielicki\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/author\/bridget-sielicki\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Conjoined twins doing well one year after separation surgery: 'God's gift to us'","description":"Texas Children's Hospital announced that its doctors successfully separated conjoined twins last summer, and the boys are thriving at home.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/conjoined-twins-one-year-separation\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Conjoined twins doing well one year after separation surgery: 'God's gift to us'","og_description":"Texas Children's Hospital announced that its doctors successfully separated conjoined twins last summer, and the boys are thriving at home.","og_url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/conjoined-twins-one-year-separation\/","og_site_name":"Live Action News","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liveaction","article_published_time":"2023-07-21T19:39:29+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-07-20T02:54:15+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":650,"url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/twins-conjoined-go-home-villalobos-barrera.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Bridget Sielicki","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@liveaction","twitter_site":"@liveaction","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Bridget Sielicki","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/conjoined-twins-one-year-separation\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/conjoined-twins-one-year-separation\/"},"author":{"name":"Bridget Sielicki","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/354818e37fca891455094342cfaacf2f"},"headline":"Conjoined twins doing well one year after separation surgery: &#8216;God&#8217;s gift to us&#8217;","datePublished":"2023-07-21T19:39:29+00:00","dateModified":"2023-07-20T02:54:15+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/conjoined-twins-one-year-separation\/"},"wordCount":505,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization"},"articleSection":["Human Interest","Newsbreak"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/conjoined-twins-one-year-separation\/","url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/conjoined-twins-one-year-separation\/","name":"Conjoined twins doing well one year after separation surgery: 'God's gift to us'","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#website"},"datePublished":"2023-07-21T19:39:29+00:00","dateModified":"2023-07-20T02:54:15+00:00","description":"Texas Children's Hospital announced that its doctors successfully separated conjoined twins last summer, and the boys are thriving at home.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/conjoined-twins-one-year-separation\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/conjoined-twins-one-year-separation\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/conjoined-twins-one-year-separation\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Conjoined twins doing well one year after separation surgery: &#8216;God&#8217;s gift to us&#8217;"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/","name":"Live Action News","description":"Covering Human Rights, Abortion, &amp; Pro-Life Issues","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization","name":"Live Action","url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Live-Action-Logo-Black.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Live-Action-Logo-Black.png","width":701,"height":710,"caption":"Live Action"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liveaction","https:\/\/twitter.com\/liveaction","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/liveactionorg\/","https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/LiveActionFilms\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/LiveActionFilms"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/354818e37fca891455094342cfaacf2f","name":"Bridget Sielicki","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9cf04f4b8f1370c0d4ec72e4c6913a37?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9cf04f4b8f1370c0d4ec72e4c6913a37?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Bridget Sielicki"},"url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/author\/bridget-sielicki\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/295061"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/607"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=295061"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/295061\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":295148,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/295061\/revisions\/295148"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/295146"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=295061"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=295061"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=295061"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}