US doctors say that it is too dangerous to try to separate the conjoined twin daughters of Romanian Byzantine Catholic priest, Fr Alin Dogaru.
The Sydney Morning Herald reports the twin girls born joined at the head have overcome long odds, but the doctor who brought them to the United States to be evaluated for surgery now says there is no longer any chance they will ever lead separate lives.
Anastasia and Tatiana Dogaru, who will be five in January, were born in Rome to Romanian parents. The top of Tatiana's head is attached to the back of Anastasia's, meaning the girls have never been able to look each other in the eye.
Tatiana has had to undergo heart surgery. Anastasia has no kidney function and relies on Tatiana's kidneys.
However, the twins have become smart, active girls, said Dr Kenneth Salyer, chairman and founder of the Dallas based non-profit World Craniofacial Foundation. Still, their long term prognosis is uncertain.
"They're troupers and they may be with us a long time, God willing," Salyer said.
Physicians at Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital in Cleveland, Ohio had hoped to separate the girls, but that surgery was deemed too dangerous and was called off in August 2007.
Still, Salyer, whose foundation brought the girls to Dallas when they were babies, had kept up hope that separation might still be possible.
But Salyer said he told the girls' parents a couple of months ago that separation would be impossible.
The family now lives in the Chicago area, where Alin Dogaru, a Byzantine Rite Catholic priest, has accepted an assignment at a parish. The parents declined to comment.
While they are doing well now, the girls' future is uncertain because of their complicated connection.
SOURCE
Hopes of separating conjoined girls dashed (Sydney Morning Herald, 30/11/08)
LINKS
Byzantine Catholi Church in America