Conjoined Baby Twins Return Home

Conjoined Baby Twins Return Home

To their family, Hassan and Hussein Benhaffaf are known as 'the little fighters' following their battle to survive after being born joined at the chest.

As they left hospital for the first time, the boys posed for pictures with parents, Angie and Azzedine, who thanked staff at the hospital, and asked for privacy following their return home.

Mum Angie also paid tribute to her sons, describing how she felt at their birth. "I went through pregnancy thinking it was awful, why me, why did this happen to us?" she said,

"But the first day I held the boys in my arms I knew I was chosen, they were a gift."

At first glance the little boys look like two normal healthy infants locked in a cuddle. To their family, that is exactly what they are.

Mr Benhaffaf said "To me there is no difference between conjoined twins or two other babies because to me they look absolutely beautiful."

He added, "We have two beautiful little boys. I am proud of them. We feel blessed by their arrival."

Now the boys have returned home to East Cork, Ireland, to join their two elder sisters Malika, 4, and Iman, 2.

But in just a few months they are expected to return to Great Ormond Street Hospital to undergo surgery to separate them.

Although no specific details have been given about the operation, the boys do not share any organs.

A spokesman from Cork's University Maternity Hospital, where the children are receiving care, said, "Both boys are medically very well, taking feeds and gaining weight."

Mrs Benhaffaf is under no illusions about the dangers of surgery. "It is our wish the two survive and they have long healthy lives but it is in God's hands really." she said.

"The time we have between now and the boy's separation later in the year is very precious to us because we don't know realistically what is going to happen after the operation."

Best of luck to Hassan and Hussein, and may the family enjoy having them home at last.

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