VANCOUVER — Conjoined twins Krista and Tatiana were born around noon yesterday at a Vancouver hospital, vigorous, wiggly and very vocal.
The girls, who each weighed about 6½ pounds (2.9 kilograms) and were equal in length, were joined at the head, an extremely rare situation.
Photos taken in the operating room by a family member and provided to CTV News show the babies moments after their birth. Their skin appeared red and puffy; their eyes were squeezed tightly closed; their tiny hands were scrunched up at their shoulders. They lay at right angles to each other, their heads joined at the top.
"It was fantastic to actually see that they're alive and doing well," grandmother Louise McKay told CTV. She said she was worried that the babies would not make it.
The excited grandmother said the experience was "just absolutely awesome." She was thrilled she got to touch them. "They were crying in sequence together, and if you put a soother in one mouth, then they both stop crying. It's kinda cute."
Ms. McKay was enthralled. "It's a miracle, that's all I can say. It's a miracle."
Neither the parents nor the 16-member medical team that carried out the delivery were ready to talk with reporters in the hours after the twins' arrival.
However, Marisa Nichini, a spokeswoman for B.C. Women's Hospital and Health Centre, was beaming with joy as she recounted the events for reporters.
"It's early days, but they are doing very well at this point," she told reporters crammed into a room at the hospital. "Everything went well and according to plan."
The identical twins were breathing on their own and in stable condition.
The mother, Felicia Simms, 21, was awake throughout the one-hour delivery by cesarean section. She was resting and also doing well yesterday.
Ms. Simms and the father, Brendan Hogan, had an opportunity to visit with the newborns before the babies were taken from the operating room to the neonatal intensive-care unit. "They actually had a chance to hold their hands," Ms. Nichini said.
Ms. Simms, who has two children aged 2 and 3, gave birth to the twins in the 34th week of her pregnancy. It was not clear yesterday when efforts will be made to separate them. The medical team is expected to speak to the news media today.
Doug Cochrane, a pediatric neurosurgeon at B.C. Children's Hospital, told reporters before the birth that the twins may be so intricately conjoined that an operation to separate them may not be feasible. Some conjoined twins are not separable without substantial risk to one or both of them, he said.
He anticipated that recommendations about the feasibility of separation will occur over several months and discussions with the family will continue for many additional months.
Deborah Money, head of the division of maternal fetal medicine at B.C. Women's Hospital, told reporters the growth of the fetuses during the pregnancy had been normal.
The Vernon couple issued a statement requesting privacy "so that they can enjoy Tatiana's and Krista's arrival."
They advised that they would not be returning phone calls. They stated that they hoped to "enjoy this very special experience" without the glare of the media spotlight.
