Twins Conjoined at the Head Successfully Separated After High-Risk Surgery, Hospital Announces
- On Wednesday, SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital announced the successful separation of Ethiopian twin sisters Hiyab and Wuhbto, who were born conjoined at the head earlier this year.
- Surgeons performed the separation on February 24-25, 2026, requiring over 24 hours to complete after the twins traveled from Ethiopia in 2025 to prepare for the procedure.
- Hiyab and Wuhbto are currently recovering at Ranken Jordan Pediatric Bridge Hospital in Maryland Heights, Missouri, participating in individual therapies to learn sitting, speaking, and socializing skills.
- Dr. Joanna Kemp, head neurological surgeon at SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital, stated the intervention provided "opportunities that would not have been possible without this intervention," though long-term development remains uncertain.
- Conjoined twins are rare, with StatPearls estimating incidence at one in every 50,000 to 100,000 live births; the hospital plans to return the sisters to Ethiopia once they are sufficiently healthy.
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Global effort brings Ethiopian twins to St. Louis for life-changing surgery
Two toddlers who survived one of the rarest and most complex procedures in pediatric medicine were the center of a celebration Wednesday morning inside SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Hospital’s Danis Auditorium. But the most powerful moment of the morning wasn’t at the podium. A few floors up, in a designated play area, Hiyab and Wuhbto […]
Conjoined twins attached at the head successfully separated after procedure requiring ‘sublime precision’
Ethiopian conjoined twins Hiyab and Wuhbto, who were joined top-to-top at the crown, have been successfully separated after a grueling 24-hour surgery following 300 hours of painstaking planning by staff at SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital in St. Louis.
The girls were successfully separated last February at the SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital in St. Louis, Missouri, after an extremely complex operation involving specialists from different disciplines.
Only 62 such operations have been conducted worldwide.
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