Formerly conjoined twins at Philadelphia hospital released before holidays

Formerly conjoined twins Abby and Erin Delaney were discharged from a Pennsylvania hospital this week, just days before the Thanksgiving holiday. (Children's Hospital of Philadelphia)

Formerly conjoined twins who had spent more than a year at a hospital in Pennsylvania were discharged Monday, just in time to be home for Thanksgiving.

Abby and Erin Delaney were born in July 2016 at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), where the top of their heads were conjoined, according to a news release from the hospital.

The girls, born 10 weeks early, were separated on June 6 by a 30-member multidisciplinary team at 10 months old. The surgery, according to CHOP, lasted 11 hours.

“The girls are inspiring,” the twins’ mother, Heather Delaney, said. Delaney said it was “neat” for her and her husband Riley “to have a front-row seat to this, and watch them overcome these incredible obstacles. We cannot wait to see what their future holds!”

“The team at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia has become like family,” Delaney added. “Riley and I are so grateful for the care our girls have received here and so excited to take them home — just in time for the holidays.”

The twins, who were separated on June 6, spent 485 days in the hospital. (Children's Hospital of Philadelphia)

CHOP added that the twins, who spent 485 days in the hospital, will need additional surgeries as they continue to grow.

Conjoined twins are born every 200,000 live births, according to the University of Maryland Medical Center.

“Approximately 40 to 60 percent of conjoined twins arrive stillborn, and about 35 percent survive only one day. The overall survival rate of conjoined twins is somewhere between 5 percent and 25 percent,” the school’s medical center found.

Around 70 percent of conjoined twins born are female, according to the center.