Jadon and Anias McDonald: Conjoined Twins Separated in New York

A team of surgeons in New York have separated twins Jadon and Anias McDonald who were conjoined at the tops of their heads.

The 13-month-olds underwent 16 hours of surgery, and are now undergoing additional procedures to rebuild their skulls.

On October 14, the boys’ mother, Nicole McDonald, wrote on Facebook that she is excited but “aches with the uncertainty of the future”.

Nicole McDonald also posted a photo of Jadon alone in his own hospital bed.

“I actually asked why they rearranged the room because I hadn’t really internalized the idea that there would be two beds in here,” she wrote with the photo, also wishing her son a “happy rebirth day”.

In an earlier post, Nicole McDonald wrote: “It’s a bit surreal to sit here and type this… I should feel so happy… TWO SEPARATE BABIES!!!…and yet I ache with the uncertainty of the future.”

The boys were born with shared blood vessels and brain tissues, a very rare condition that occurs once in about 10 million births, doctors say.

Dr. James Goodrich from Montefiore Medical Center, who has performed similar operations for other children including two Syrian twins earlier this year, prepared for the operation by creating 3D models of the attached heads.

The McDonalds moved house with their two-year-old son and twin boys from Chicago to New York to be closer to Montefiore hospital.

The twins’ family has raised more than $100,000 for the costs of surgery.