Herrin Conjoined Twins
Conjoined Twins
Kendra and Maliyah Herrin Conjoined Twins
Kendra and Maliyah Herrin were born to parents Jake and Erin Herrin February 26, 2002 at the University of Utah Medical Center in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Born at 32 weeks gestation or 8 weeks early, the girls were joined at the abdomen and pelvis and shared a kidney, liver and large intestine.
The girls were successfully separated on August 7-8, 2006 at Primary Children's Medical Center in Salt Lake City, Utah.
The surgery began at 7:15 on Monday, August 7, 2006 and lasted into the morning of the 8th. It was the first successful separation of conjoined twins who shared a kidney, which remained with Kendra. Maliyah will require dialysis as she waits for a transplant.
According to an update at the twins website, www.herrintwins.com, doctors are planning the transplant sometime in early April 2007.
Update: Erin and Maliyah checked into the hospital on April 2, 2007 in order to prep for the kidney transplant.
The procedure began mid morning on the 3rd and by 10pm everyone was in recovery and doing well.
If you would like to donate to Kendra & Maliyah for their ongoing care, activities, college, etc. you are welcome to send a donation by mail to:
Herrin Twins Donation Fund
PO Box 540831
North Salt Lake, UT 84054
Conjoined twins occur with a frequency of about one in 50,000 to 100,000 live births
Kendra and Maliyah Herrin
At 5:45 a.m. we started getting ready for the big day. We awoke Kendra and Maliyah, wanting to hold them for the last time as conjoined twins. "Is it Cut-Apart Day?" Kendra asked almost immediately. "Today is the day,: I said, hoping she wasn't worried, like I was.
