“It was like magic,” Ludy de Guzman described the procedure her 16-month-old daughters Jerrylyn and Jennylyn went through to become separate individuals.
“I still can’t believe they’re no longer attached to each other,” the 24-year-old mother said.
The girls were born on Dec. 8, 2013, sharing the same liver and sternum or breastbone.
But with the help of Tzu Chi Foundation, the conjoined twins were successfully separated by a 30-member team of doctors and nurses on March 13 at Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi General Hospital in Hualien, Taiwan.
“Now, the children can sit and play and are learning to stand on their own,” De Guzman said.
Jerrylyn and Jennylyn were playful and smiled before the cameras when they were presented to journalists at the Tzu Chi Foundation office in Quezon City on Friday.
De Guzman said that before the eight-hour surgery, the girls had to be carried all the time that made her give up her job as a fish vendor in Bautista, Pangasinan province.
Her husband, Jayson, a farmer, has an irregular income of P100 to P200, she said, so it was impossible for them to afford the operation.
They also have a 5-year-old daughter.
Third pair
The twins were the third conjoined pair from the Philippines helped by Tzu Chi Foundation.
The first pair was Lea and Rachel Awel, who underwent surgery in 2003, while Rose Carmel and Rose Carmelette Molit, now 6 years old, went through the separation procedure in 2010.
Lea and Rachel, 12, ranked fourth and fifth, respectively, in Buddhacare Academy’s fifth grade class this past school year.
The Awel twins’ parents, Andy and Marieta, are both working for the foundation and each is donating P100 from their earnings to the group’s charity program.
“We donate as a form of gratitude for the opportunity given to our daughters to live separate and normal lives,” Marieta said.
Lea said she and her sister might have been bullied by other kids if they remained conjoined.
“Those who are not normal are usually bullied,” said Lea, who wants to be a teacher serving in impoverished communities.
Her twin Rachel wants to be a doctor to help people who cannot afford medical services.
Tzu Chi culture
Their father Andy attributed their selfless ambitions to the Tzu Chi culture they grew up in.
“I have changed a lot since I joined the community. I dropped my vices like drinking and smoking so I could focus on my family,” he said.
Tzu Chi Foundation Philippine’s chief executive officer Alfredo Li said the organization’s goal was to “change lives.”
“Like Andy, the people we helped in the country work hard for their families … These people changed,” Li said. “[The] Filipinos’ sense of gratitude is very strong,” he added.
He said Philippine communities helped by the foundation were always willing to lend a hand or donate when needed. He cited volunteers in Tatalon village, Quezon City, who chipped in to raise P3 million needed for the De Guzman twins’ surgery.
Rich in kindness
“Tatalon is a famous slum area. The people are poor in material things but they are rich in kindness and compassion,” Li said.
Although the foundation’s head office in Taiwan is not asking for payment, Li said, “We want Filipinos to help Filipinos.”
Li said the foundation also raised funds for the Molit twins.
“We were not able to collect P3 million that time. But we just want to show that we are not just relying on Taiwan,” he added.
Li said the foundation spent around P28 million for the Awels because it bought new equipment for the procedure.
Dr. Robert Sy of Tzu Chi International Medical Association said the De Guzman twins were lucky because the doctors used the same procedure used on the first pair.
“Like the first twins, they shared the same liver,” Sy, a general surgeon, said.
A liver has a line that could guide doctors to properly divide it, he added.
The organ can also “regenerate so the chances of defect is slim,” he said.
Already well
“They’re both very active, which means they are already well,” Sy said.
But it would take four to five months for the skin to expand and cover the surgical wound, thus proper dressing and nutrition are necessary, he added.
Sy said conjoined twins are born once in every 200,000 births when the developing embryo of identical twins stop splitting.
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