When doctors told Angela and Daniel Formosa that their 16-week-old twins were conjoined and may not survive pregnancy, birth, or surgery the last thing the parents-to-be envisioned was their babies’ first day of school.
Rosie and Ruby Formosa, of Kent, England, were born connected by their abdomens and they also shared an intestine a condition which affects one in 200,000 births.
“When I was pregnant I didn’t think I’d ever see their first day at school,” Angela Formosa, 35, told the Press Association.
“I was really, really scared and really upset because at that point I was told that there was a high possibility that the girls wouldn’t survive the pregnancy.”
When the girls were born by caesarean at 34 weeks, they required emergency surgery for an intestinal blockage at London’s Great Ormond Street Hospital.
The high risk procedure took five hours.
“The surgery is highly complex and requires teams from across the hospital to work together and combine a whole range of expertise,” said Professor Paolo De Coppi, a consultant paediatric surgeon at London’s Great Ormond Street Hospital.
But the procedure was a success and four years later, Rosy and Ruby are ready to start school.
“I didn’t prepare to bring them home. It wasn’t until they were in hospital and they’d had their operation that my husband started painting the bedroom and getting everything ready for them,” the twins’ mother said.
The proud parents said that their girls can’t wait to get in the classroom.
“They’re looking forward to painting, anything messy, they love reading,” their mom told told the Press Association.
“They are very similar… headstrong and very determined, which I knew they were from when they were in my belly because of the way they kept growing and surviving.”
And Professor De Coppi, who saved their lives, was touched by the special news.
“We’re thrilled that Rosie and Ruby are starting school this September,” said Professor De Coppi, who added that doctors have treated 27 sets of conjoined twins at the hospital over the last three decades.
“It’s always a joy to witness patients’ progress and to hear that they are reaching new milestones this makes the job we do all the more rewarding.”
