A 10-month-old girl born with four legs and two spines is recovering after doctors successfully removed what they have identified as her twin’s partially formed body. Doctors performed surgery on March 8 to remove two legs and a second spine that protruded from her back.
They went through a vetting process and confirmed that they would be able to take Dominique to all of her appointments at the hospital, which had been scheduled through the organization.
Dr. John Ruge, a pediatric neurosurgeon at Advocate, had worked with Children’s Medical Missions West before.
10-month-old Dominique’s radiant smile stole the heart of Nancy Swabb when Dominique came off a plane in February. “She looked so sweet”, Swabb told CNN.
“Now, she’s essentially a normal baby”, Dr. Kellogg agreed. Parasitic twins are a type of conjoined twins that occur when one twin stops developing inside the womb and becomes semi-absorbed into the other, according to the Embryo Project at Arizona State University.
