New York

Formerly Conjoined Baby Girls Leave Westchester Hospital 2 Months After Grueling 21-Hour Separation Surgery

The Westchester Medical Center said the process involved more than 50 medical professionals

What to Know

  • Ballenie and Bellanie Camacho were born attached at the lower back; they also shared a branch of one artery
  • More than 50 medical professionals were involved in the effort to separate them successfully
  • The babies were released from Maria Fareri Children's Hospital about two months after the procedure

Two formerly conjoined baby girls who bravely endured a grueling 21-hour separation procedure at a Westchester County hospital earlier this year have made the next milestone in their recovery.

Twin 1-year-old girls Ballenie and Bellanie Camacho were being released from Maria Fareri Children's Hospital Friday, just more than two months after doctors separated the duo who had been born attached at the lower back. 

The girls also shared gastrointestinal connections and a branch of one artery.

But through a rare and complex surgery, the first of its kind ever performed at the Valhalla hospital, the baby girls were successfully separated Jan. 17-18. The hospital said the process involved more than 50 medical professionals, and many of them were expected to be on hand Friday to wish the girls well.

Samir Pandya, one of the pediatric surgeons leading the medical team, said after the procedure that the surgery was full of challenges, but the girls would have chances at better lives because of it.

“Ballenie and Bellanie are as strong as they are beautiful and this dynamic duo is doing very well after a very long and complex surgery," Pandya said in January.

The twin babies were born in Moca, Dominican Republic, in February 2016.

A family friend referred parents Laurilin Celadilla Marte and Marino Abel Camacho to the specialists at Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital after they were born and within a year the surgery was complete, the hospital said.

Contact Us