Baby separated from parasitic twin introduced at news conference

A baby girl from the Ivory Coast born with four legs and two spines has been successfully separated from a parasitic twin in a rare and complex surgery at a Chicago hospital.

Doctors at the Advocate Children’s Hospital introduced the ten-month-old at a press conference on Tuesday.

“The priority was, ‘ we could do it, could we do it safely and we could we aggregate the team together to do that’ and we’ve demonstrated that,” said Mike Farrel, President Advocate Children’s Hospital.

A woman Nancy Swabb, from Edgebrook, Illinois has looked after Dominique since she arrived in the United States for the surgery.

“We’ve thought every day, every moment, we’ve thought of her family waiting for her return, and just feel really honored to be her host family for a little while,” she added.

The baby, Dominique, underwent a six-hour procedure involving five surgeons on March 8.
She was born with a parasitic twin; the bottom half of her not-fully-developed twin’s body protruded from her neck and back.

Girl Born With 4 Legs Is Separated From Parasitic Twin In Chicago Surgery: A baby girl from the Ivory Coast born… https://t.co/D6UUVgxwuA pic.twitter.com/UblAGpYiNK

— NewsStory (@NewsStoryIndia) March 22, 2017

Doctors did not give Dominique’s family name.

She’s been staying with a foster family and will be reunited with her own family in Africa in a few weeks.