Doctors Separate Sudanese Twins Born with Fused Heads

A British charity says 11-month-old twin girls who were born with fused heads have been successfully separated in a series of operations in London.

Facing the World says Rital and Ritag Gaboura were born September 22, 2010, in Sudan with the tops of their heads stuck together. Twins born joined at the head — known as craniopagus twins — occur in about one in 2.5 million births and successful attempts to split them are rare.

However, the condition can lead to serious medical problems and the charity said the twins' parents asked for help funding surgery to pull the two apart.

By the time the family arrived in the UK, Ritag's heart was already failing. The girls were separated over four stages. Two operations in May, tissue expanders were inserted in July and the final separation on 15 August.

The charity said Sunday the two were finally separated last month and appear to be healthy.

London's Great Ormond Street Hospital said it handled the surgeries.

The Associated Press contributed to this article.