Joy and Joyce Magsino Conjoined conjoined twins from the Philippines Country: Philippines

1. The Conjoined Twins in Desperate Need of Separation
2. The Risky Operation and Financial Struggles
3. The Withdrawal of Support and the Twins' Current Situation

The Conjoined Twins in Desperate Need of Separation

Ten-year-old conjoined twins Joy and Joyce Magsino from the Philippines are in desperate need of separation, a procedure that can only be done through surgery and carries deadly risks. They were born joined at the forehead with a condition called craniofacial partial craniopagus. While not life-threatening, their condition still poses a mortal threat. Doctors have declared that the sisters can be separated through a risky operation. However, after the family gave their consent, the local charity organization that had been providing financial support for the Magsino sisters stopped donating. The separation procedure costs £75,000, a sum that the parents simply cannot afford. The head of the family earns around £6 a day, and the twins' mother even immigrated abroad to work, leaving her daughters in the care of relatives.

The Risky Operation and Financial Struggles

A family representative stated, "Doctors have indicated that the operation will be quite risky as it will involve damaging a nerve that connects both bodies. The nerve will need to be reattached within a few seconds, otherwise one of the girls will die." The charity organization withdrew their financial support once they learned about the risks involved. The twins' father, 30-year-old Patrick, works as a trader's assistant in the market, while his wife, Jomari, migrated to Qatar, where she works as a household help and saves money on everything to gather the necessary sum for their daughters' separation. Patrick said, "We have been trying to raise funds for the past five years since doctors confirmed that the girls could be separated, but so far, we have only managed to collect a third of the amount." He added, "I am seeking help from hospitals in countries such as the UK, USA, and India." He is willing to agree to any procedure that guarantees the safety of both his daughters, as he will never be able to accumulate the necessary funds to cover all the treatment expenses.

The Withdrawal of Support and the Twins' Current Situation

The family revealed that when the twins were born, a local charity organization offered to pay for their treatment. However, in 2014, the organization withdrew further donations, as doctors deemed the operation to separate Joy and Joyce as life-threatening. Patrick added, "When my daughters were born, they were fed through a plastic tube. But today, Joy and Joyce are full of life." He explained, "Controlling them has become difficult, especially because now they want to be separated from each other. The twins have developed a strong understanding of each other, but occasionally, each of them wants to focus on her own activities." Joyce, who has a cleft lip, dominates the pair and usually manages to get her way. This form of conjoining involves the fusion of conjoined twins in the head region. It occurs in approximately 10-20 cases per million births, specifically in the United States. Each twin has their own limbs, abdominal cavity, and chest. Each fetus has its own soft brain lining, and the brain is divided by cranial bones or a hard brain lining. Partial craniopagus can involve the fusion of heads or only specific parts of the head. If the twins are healthy enough to undergo the operation and undergo rehabilitation afterward, the possibility of separation is considered.