Philadelphia couple Tim and Shaneka Ruffin are thrilled that their 1-year-old twins, Amari and Javar, are home from the hospital at last.
“Seeing them each in their own beds was an indescribable feeling,” Shaneka shared in an interview with Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP).
During Shaneka's pregnancy, doctors discovered that her twins were conjoined, and they told her that she may not be able to carry them to term. The couple sought a second opinion at CHOP and learned that the babies could most likely be delivered and separated.
According to CHOP, conjoined twins occur roughly once in every 35,000 to 80,000 births. The hospital has successfully separated 32 sets of conjoined twins since 1957. The Ruffin twins used to share the lowest part of the sternum, the diaphragm, abdominal wall and liver.
Led by a team that included maternal-fetal medicine specialist, Dr. Nahla Khalek, and pediatric general, thoracic and fetal surgeon, Dr. Holly Hedrick, the twins were born via C-section on September 29, 2023 when Shaneka was 30 weeks pregnant. Collectively, the twins weighed roughly 6 pounds at birth.
Shaneka, who remembers weighing about the same amount when she was born, said in the CHOP interview, “My family has a history of fighting babies.”
While she spent time healing at home after the birth, the boys remained in the hospital. Shaneka, who was also caring for two older children, struggled to keep her emotions in check during that time. She was eventually diagnosed with postpartum depression and sought care from a perinatal psychologist.
She told the hospital, "It is hard to go through pregnancy, and you don’t know if you’ll have your baby at the end, or if you’re going to make it to the end. So, I didn’t connect with them (Amari and Javar) right away. And I feel as though that’s not talked about a lot.”
“Postpartum depression occurs in about one in five women," Khalek said in the CHOP interview. "It is fairly common, but not commonly acknowledged. It can be made worse by high-stress environments; that could obviously include the delivery or birth of conjoined twins."
The boys, on the other hand, were thriving while still under the care of the hospital, and their personalities began to shine through.
"Javar is smiley and wants to see everything that’s going on. Amari sleeps a lot while Javar is awake and wants a lot of attention to fall sleep. Amari even slept through the delivery,” Shaneka said.
As they grew, a pediatric plastic surgeon used tissue expanders (like small collapsible balloons) to stretch their skin over the course of time so the boys would have enough skin to cover their individual abdomens after the separation surgery.
The 8-hour procedure ultimately took place on Aug. 21, 2024, when the boys were 11 months old. The surgical team was able to successfully separate the boys and even create a belly button for each one.
“On the day of the separation, I was at my grandma’s house. I couldn’t sleep until my mom sent me a video or a picture of them after they were separated," said 9-year-old brother Kaylum. "We already had four people in our family. Now we have six! Seeing them in real life, being able to touch them separately and not having to hold both at the same time was an amazing feeling.”
He and 3-year-old sister, Anora, helped the twins exit the hospital on Oct. 8. They will continue to see occupational, physical, music and play therapists, plus a speech therapist who helps with feeding, but they'll do it all from the comfort of their own home.
“It feels like we are beginning a new journey as a family of six," said Shaneka.
