Formerly Conjoined Twins Welcomed Home 4 Weeks After Surgery

Conjoined twins Ella Grace and Eliza Faith Fuller were born at Texas Children's Hospital in Houston, Texas, on March 1, 2023. (Texas Children's Hospital)

Four weeks after a team of doctors separated Ella Grace and Eliza Faith Fuller, well-wishers gathered in the town square in Center, Texas, to welcome home the formerly conjoined twins and their parents.

“It’s hard to express [in] words just how excited we are,” Jesse Fuller, the girls’ dad, told KHOU-TV before the family left the hospital where the girls had spent the first several months of their lives. “It’s been 134 days, so the feelings are overwhelming.”

On Tuesday, July 11, Jesse and Sandy Fuller and their babies were greeted by friends and family upon their arrival home — less than a month after the girls underwent extensive surgery at Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston, Texas, to separate them, the Light and Champion reported.

“I think you can look at them and see God’s goodness and just how kind he’s been to us because they are true miracles from day one,” Mrs. Fuller told the news outlet.

The sisters were born via c-section on March 1 at 35 weeks gestation at the Texas Children’s Pavilion for Women in Houston, about 175 miles southwest of the couple’s hometown in Shelby County. They weighed an estimated 5 pounds, 10 ounces each, Texas Children’s Hospital said in a press release.

Conjoined twins Ella and Eliza Fuller were born via c-section at Texas Children's Pavilion for Women in Houston, Texas, on March 1, 2023. (Texas Children's Hospital)

Long Journey

Mrs. Fuller was in her second trimester when the couple learned the girls were conjoined during a routine sonogram.

“When I found out they were going to be conjoined, I trusted God’s plan,“ Mrs. Fuller said. ”I knew he was going to work it out all the way to the end.”

Conjoined twins are rare, with an occurrence of about one in 50,000 to 200,000 births, according to the National Library of Medicine.

“Conjoined twin pregnancies are incredibly rare and high-risk, so it’s important that an expectant mother receive care from a highly-skilled maternal-fetal medicine team,” said Dr. Rooplai Donepudi, a maternal-fetal medicine specialist who led the team that delivered the girls.

The sisters were conjoined at the abdomen and shared liver tissues, the hospital said.

“The prenatal testing and imaging that Sandy underwent at Texas Children’s Fetal Center was incredibly thorough and informed not only the labor and delivery team to ensure that mom and babies had the best birth outcome, but also allowed our neonatal and surgery colleagues to begin planning for the twins’ care while still in utero,” Dr. Donepudi continued.

Conjoined twins Ella and Eliza Fuller underwent surgery to separate them at Texas Children's Hospital in Houston, Texas, on June 14, 2023. (Texas Children's Hospital)

Answered Prayers

Following months of planning, Ella and Eliza were separated successfully on June 14 during six-hour surgery performed by a medical team of 17, which included seven surgeons, four anesthesiologists, four surgical nurses, and two surgical technicians.

“Our team began planning and preparing for this operation before the babies were even born,” said Dr. Alice King, lead pediatric surgeon, adding that they conducted simulations of the procedure to develop the best outcome for the sisters.

Three days after the girls’ surgery, Mr. and Mrs. Fuller got to “hold their babies separately for the first time in their lives.”

Jesse and Sandy Fuller got holding Ella and Eliza three days after the twins were separated, on June 17, 2023. (Texas Children's Hospital)

Ella and Eliza made “excellent progress toward healing, growing, and returning home” during the weeks that followed.

After more than four months in the neonatal intensive care unit, Mr. and Mrs. Fuller were thrilled to finally be taking the girls home, where they will join big sister Emilia.

“Texas Children’s was a place of comfort and hope for our family. From beginning to the end, we were guided, informed, and comforted,” Mrs. Fuller said. We are so grateful God put some of the best doctors and nurses in our lives to give our girls the best chance at life.”