SAN JOSE, California—Stanford surgeons seek to give two sisters a life apart, dividing their shared bodies into two in a long, delicate and risky surgery. Without the procedure, San Jose conjoined twins Angelica and Angelina Sabuco—fused at their liver—would face a troubled future, with curved spines, muscle problems and the emotional challenges of intimately shared lives.

Tuesday’s surgery could give the two-year-olds, and their family a chance to lead normal lives. But the rare procedure poses the threat of massive bleeding or the catastrophic introduction of an air bubble into the venous system, causing heart attack or stroke. “I have mixed emotions,” said the girls’ mother, Ginady Sabuco. “But I want them to live normally, like other children.”

The operation at Stanford University’s Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital will take at least nine hours, an hour of preparation, six hours to cut apart the girls and two to three hours of reconstruction. A team of 20 doctors and nurses will take part in the delicate procedure, which is performed about six times a year in the United States. The identical twins are strong, with similar almond eyes but distinct personalities.

Angelica is the sturdier and more extroverted one; Angelina is quieter. Like all toddlers, they are curious and stubborn, so the need for constant supervision to prevent strife. “When one wants something the other does not, we do not want them to get hurt,” said aunt Marie Sabuco. Both girls love Elmo from the TV show Sesame Street. They play “mommy and baby” with each other; when Angelica coughs, Angelina gently pats her back. They know the alphabet, their colors and can count to 10. But their growing weight—55 pounds combined–posed practical problems for mother Ginady, who must carry the girls together. To dress them, she buys identical clothes, cut down the middle and then joined by Velcro.

(MCT-San Jose Mercury News)

In Photo: Ginady Sabuco holds her conjoined twins Angelica and Angelina Sabuco at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford in Palo Alto, California, on Monday. The twins will undergo a separation surgery tomorrow led by Gary Hartman, MD, and his surgical team. (MCT)