Dallas Conjoined Twins, Owen and Emmet Ezell, Now Separated

Twins joined at the chest to the belly button were successfully separated Saturday in Dallas, says ABC News.

The twins, Owen and Emmet Ezell were born on July 15 sharing a liver and intestines. The parents of the two boys initially considered terminating the pregnancy when they learned they were having conjoined twins. The doctor they consulted reportedly told them the twins had little chance of surviving.

"We didn't think they had a chance, that they weren't going to make it at all," said Jenni Ezell, the mother of the twins. "So we decided to abort and it was the hardest decision that a mother has to make."

However, a doctor in Medical City Children's Hospital told them otherwise. Both parents were overjoyed at the newly found hope for Owen and Emmet.

The boys were born 11 pounds and 15 ounces but have now gained roughly 5 pounds since the successful operation. According to the report, the operation to separate conjoined twins Owen and Emmet lasted for nine grueling hours.

The team of doctors and surgeons involved in the successful operation claimed that the most difficult part of the operation had to do with having to separate a shared blood vessel in the liver. But through the help of the whole medical team, Owen and Emmet are now two separate individuals.

Neonatologist Dr. Clair Schwendeman says that both boys are as stable as could be hoped for post-operatively. Although thriving, both boys are still attached to breathing machines.

"They're on some breathing support, but they've stabilized," said Schwendeman in another report.

Owen and Emmet will also need future surgeries to fix the IV lines according to the doctor. Schwendeman also noted that the twins have a 40 to 50 percent survival rate.

According to CNN, conjoined twins occurs once every 200,000 live births. Conjoined twins reportedly develop from a single fertilized egg that fails to separate completely as it divides. There have been 250 operations performed worldwide in order to separate conjoined twins. The most number of operations performed was in the year 1950.