The procedure took place at the King Abdullah Specialist Children's Hospital in Riyadh, with surgical lead Dr Abdullah Al Rabeeah describing it as an "exceptionally rare" case. The operation required separating the twins' liver, bowel, urinary tract and anal canal, proceeding in nine phases.
Three hours into the surgery, Dr Al Rabeeah said it was "going well" and "better than our expectation, and the two girls are doing well so far in spite of the complexity of surgery." He noted that separating the liver and bowel was undertaken "with good success and stability and no major bleeding."
The twins' mother, Akeneta Vulimaiigiladi, said she was nervous when the girls were wheeled into the operating theatre but became less so while watching via a video link. "We just kissed them goodbye and we wished our babies well," she said. Before the surgery, she and her husband Watisoni gave the girls new Arabic names: Noorah for Jesepeli and Sarah for Dicecea.
The twins had their own hearts and lungs. Doctors assessed them for months ahead of the surgery. The procedure reached a critical stage on Thursday night local time, when doctors announced they had successfully separated the pair and began reconstruction.