Home
News Categories:   Top Headlines |  Business |  International |  Sports |  Entertainment |  Science |  Health |  Strange  
 
Email this News Story to a Friend
Iranian Twins Joined at Head Face Surgery
Iranian conjoined twins, Ladan, left and Laleh Bijani arrive for a news conference flanked by members of the medical team which will attempt to separate the 29-year-old sisters early next month in Singapore Wednesday June 11, 2003. When asked what the first thing they would like to see post-operation was, they replied each other face to face for the first time. (AP Photo/Ed Wray)

10:47 AM EST June 11, 2003
The Associated Press


SINGAPORE

Laleh Bijani wants her sister's face to be the first thing she sees after surgeons complete a risky operation next month to separate the 29-year-old twins who are joined at the head.

Sisters Laleh and Ladan have spent every moment of their lives together but have never seen each other's face directly.

Laleh said she is most looking forward "to see each other after the operation - face-to-face" after the surgery, which is scheduled for the first week of July.

"We want to see each other without the mirror," Ladan agreed Wednesday at a news conference at Raffles Hospital, where the surgery will be performed.

The operation will mark the first time surgeons have tried to separate adult craniopagus twins - siblings born joined at the head - since the operation was first successfully performed in 1952.

Doctors have warned the surgery could kill one or both sisters, or leave them brain dead. But after years of trying to persuade doctors to operate, the twins say they are prepared to take the risks.

"We are very excited to be having surgery. We hope the surgery will be successful and we feel happy, excited and a little bit nervous," Ladan said.

Laleh and Ladan admitted their condition made it easy to cheat on tests in school but they said they have made many compromises and needed to be separated to live satisfying adult lives.

Ladan described herself as talkative and said Laleh was quiet. Ladan also said she did not share Laleh's love of animals or video games. Both studied law because Ladan wanted to become a lawyer.

"We want to, after surgery, do different careers. I want to continue law, to become a lawyer, but my sister wants to be a journalist like you," Ladan said at the news conference. "We have a lot of work to do and a lot of dreams to do after surgery."

They are spending the days leading up to the surgery praying, chatting with friends on the Internet and building up strength at the gym, the twins said.

The two seemed cheerful, laughing at times as they answered questions while sitting on a sofa with a cream-colored scarf wrapped around their heads.

A counselor is helping them prepare for the surgery and the consequences if something goes wrong.

Ladan said they were trying to stay positive.

"We don't like to think about who will die or who will be saved," she said.

Singapore surgeons led by Dr. Keith Goh will be assisted by Dr. Benjamin Carson, director of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Children's Center in Baltimore.

The Bijani sisters, born in Tehran on Jan. 17, 1974, have separate brains in a joined skull.

The separation procedure will require a team of 12 surgeons and about 100 nurses and assistants and could take up to four days to complete, Goh said.

The twins arrived in Singapore on Nov. 20 from Iran for medical and psychological evaluations.

---

On the Net:

https://www.raffleshospital.com/bijani/bijani.asp

https://www.raffleshospital.com/bijani/bijani.asp

 
E-mail this News Story to a Friend