Amman: The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is renowned for setting the bar high for international charity and consistently ranking among the top nations for charitable, humanitarian, and relief efforts.
The separation of Siamese twins is one of these areas, where the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has shown its international renown and won praise from other countries and relevant organizations in addition to the families of the twins.
Over the course of 32 years, 54 sets of Siamese twins have been successfully separated thanks to the Saudi program for separating conjoined twins.
These operations were first performed on December 31, 1990, by the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre (KSrelief), under the direction of Dr. Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Rabeeah, an Advisor to the Royal Court and the KSrelief’s Supervisor General.
Since its inception, the program has evaluated a total of 127 Siamese twins from 23 countries across three continents and performed 54 successful surgeries to separate Siamese and parasitic twins, the most recent being Iraqi Siamese twins Ali and Omar.
Samah and Hiba, Sudanese twins, underwent separation surgery in 1992, along with the formation of a specialized team for such operations, according to Dr. Al Rabeeah in an interview with the Saudi Press Agency (SPA). He continued by saying that after the surgery was successful, Samah and Hiba lived in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and earned their master’s degree.
As part of its humanitarian role, the Kingdom has welcomed Siamese twins of any race in an effort to ease the suffering they and their families face. This is an aspect of the Kingdom that has set and will continue to set an example for responding to the pleas of twins’ families and easing their pain until Saudi Arabia becomes a safe haven for them.
Conjoined twins have no known scientific explanation. Contrary to popular belief, conjoined twins only occur in women who give birth to identical twins from a single egg and for genetic reasons, and even then, it’s an extremely rare and tiny percentage (less than one in a thousand).
More cases of conjoined twins are seen in populations with darker skin tones. The incidence of identical twins in Africa is higher than in Europe; in particular, the southern regions of the continent are more likely to see such cases than the northern regions.
Pregnant women should visit their doctors regularly in the early stages of their pregnancies to monitor their health and the health of their unborn child. This is especially important because the detection of twins requires a specific course of action; in many cases, twins can be detected as early as 8 or 9 weeks of pregnancy, which is the critical time to assess the effect on the mother’s health.
Siamese twins’ medical, humanitarian, and social ramifications have a negative effect on the father and mother because they become depressed when they learn that their children were born with illnesses and physical defects. However, the Saudi program for separating Siamese twins has brought optimism for a bright, healthy future and restored hope to these humanitarian situations. It has also lifted all burdens from the shoulders of families of conjoined Siamese twins.
Dr. Al-Rabeeah explains that the Saudi program for separating Siamese twins evaluates each twin individually, based on their health condition, to identify the joint organs and their condition, before selecting the medical team that will participate in the surgery. For instance, adhesion to the chest is determined by the specialized team, where the team specializing in that field is chosen; thus, each case is determined by the locations of adhesion in the twin organs, which prompted the kingdom to consolidate all these specializations in one location.
The program has been able to successfully separate 54 sets of Siamese twins in this extremely specialized area of medicine, and the Kingdom takes pride in having top-notch national medical expertise as well as cutting-edge tools and equipment that adhere to the most recent scientific guidelines in this specialized surgical field.
It is clear that the Siamese twins require a variety of care following their separation operations, including routine check-ups. This is especially true given their physical conditions, which necessitate ongoing follow-ups by the surgical team. Twins who reside abroad must communicate with the skilled group in charge of overseeing their surgery.
Because conjoined twins are accustomed to being joined while in their mother’s womb and for the first few months after birth, the psychological aspect of the conjoined twins is also crucial for treating “post-operative separation trauma.” Consequently, the more time passes before the surgery, the stronger the psychological bond between the twins will be.
Additionally, the twins must be placed close together in one room. It is imperative that the split be gradual rather than abrupt. The medical team of the Saudi program for the separation of Siamese twins, which includes a specialized psychiatric team, performs this task.
As Saudi Arabia’s expertise in dealing with Siamese twins has grown, so have visions and objectives, not only through medical interventions but also through the establishment of a comprehensive national humanitarian and scientific program specializing in the separation of conjoined twins. This was a watershed moment for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, as the Saudi program for the separation of Siamese twins is the only one of its kind in the world, covering all expenses for surgeries, treatment, and post-operative rehabilitation. This is in addition to hosting parents of twins from other countries who want to be close to their children and keep an eye on them during their medical treatment.
The program continues to add medical and national personnel to each new surgery, where there are now three teams, in line with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s goal of being at the top in all fields, including the humanitarian area of separating Siamese twins. There are also world-class Saudi physicians who lecture internationally and publish their findings on the subject of international twin separation.
These outcomes demonstrate the high levels of effectiveness and efficiency the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has attained in this particular surgical specialty. They also demonstrate the breadth of knowledge and expertise the Kingdom has amassed in the field of separating Siamese twins. The Saudi program for the separation of Siamese twins receives direct attention from the leadership of the Kingdom, which consistently issues directives to receive twins and perform separation surgeries, and the Kingdom’s leading role in the field of medical and humanitarian entrepreneurship.
The government of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Crown Prince and Prime Minister, is unique in attaching such importance to cases of the Siamese twins in the world, where the program is part of the Kingdom’s efforts in the field of humanitarian work at the international level.
Source: Jordan News Agency