Formerly Conjoined Twins Home After Being Separated
PHOTO: TEXAS CHILDRENÂS HOSPITAL
After a nearly year-long journey since their successful separation, formerly conjoined twins, Lucas and Mateo Villalobos Barrera are finally back home. Born on January 18, 2022, attached at the lower abdomen and pelvis, the duo’s birth announcement came from Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston.
They shared multiple organs such as small intestines and a single colon, a condition referred to as ischiopagus twins. Following a grueling 17-hour operation in August 2022, the twins were separated and began their recovery process. After spending additional months in Texas, the family returned to their Las Vegas home where the twins are reported to be flourishing.
The boys’ mother, Lorena Barrera, expressed her immense gratitude to the Texas Children’s Hospital specialists, calling her sons’ recovery “God’s gift.” Lorena and her husband, Alejandro Villalobos, discovered they were having twins in 2021 and were later informed of their unique conjoined status.
Upon their initial consultation at the Fetal Center, it became clear that an extensive team of experts would be required for Lucas and Mateo’s care, said Dr. Rita Shah, a neonatologist at Texas Children’s Hospital. Consequently, the family relocated to Houston temporarily to avail the necessary treatment at Texas Children’s Fetal Center.
The “complex delivery” entailed comprehensive planning and simulation training, said Dr. Michael Belfort, Chief Obstetrician and Gynecologist at Texas Children’s Hospital. Pediatric surgeon Dr. Alice King added that this intricate case required the collaboration of almost every surgical subspecialty within the hospital.
Weighing a total of 8 lbs., 4 oz. at birth, the twins were later moved to the neonatal intensive care unit. Here, over 30 different teams dedicated their expertise until the twins’ discharge on October 26, 2022.
Post-discharge, the family stayed in Texas for a few more months. Each twin underwent one last operation on June 28, 2023, before their return to Nevada. Now, both boys are making remarkable progress and are beginning to walk, as per hospital reports.
“The nurses and the specialists were excellent,” their mother acknowledged in the hospital’s news release, attributing her children’s survival and progress to divine intervention.
