Dream come true..

Filipino-born conjoined twins separated after 9-hour operation

Palo Alto, California: Twin 2-year-old girls who were joined at the chest and abdomen were separated Tuesday during a lengthy, complex procedure at Stanford University's children's hospital.

The operation that gave sisters Angelina and Angelica Sabuco their independence took more than nine hours and a team of more than 40 people, including doctors, nurses and other personnel.

By mid-afternoon, the girls had moved to their own operating rooms at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital for the second phase of surgery - reconstructing the area where they were connected. Two hours later, they were moved to the intensive care unit, each with a scar stretching from her chest to her belly.

"This is a dream come true," their mother, Ginady Sabuco, said through tears to reporters after the surgery was complete. "Words cannot express how the family feels."

"The long term prognosis is that we should have a happy, healthy set of girls. We don't see any barrier to a full recovery," Hartman said.

They had been doing very well considering the obstacles. The girls learned to walk despite their face-to-face orientation and could recite colors and numbers.

The surgery required separating livers, diaphragms, breastbones, and chest and abdominal wall muscles.