Separated twins doing well after operation

MELBOURNE, Nov. 22 (UPI) -- Two conjoined twins separated in a 32-hour operation in Australia appear to be making a good recovery, the woman who has been caring for them says.

Guardian Moira Kelly said the girls, Trishna and Krishna, who turn 3 on Dec. 22, had not seen each other since the operation, The Brisbane Courier-Mail reported. Trishna came out of an induced coma late Friday, about 24 hours after her sister, but they are still weak.

"The girls are alive and normal and that's simply incredible," Kelly said. "Miracle is such a wonderful, beautiful word but it's not big enough to describe these past few days."

Since their birth, the sisters have been unable to look into each other's faces because of the way they were joined.

The surgery at the Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne involved 16 specialists.

The girls were born in Bangladesh but their parents, Kartik and Lavleek Mollik, gave them up 16 days later because they felt unable to care for them.

Experts said before the operation that there was only a 25 percent chance both twins would survive without major damage, and the same odds that at least one would die. Doctors now say they have seen no signs of brain damage.