Family of formerly conjoined twins say they're 'doing great' 1 year after surgery

It has been one year since formerly conjoined twins AmieLynn and JamieLynn Finley had their separation surgery.

The sisters are now living a typical toddler life. They're walking, talking and playing, just like other 1-year-olds, something their parents previously could only dream of.

"I don't know how to describe it," dad James Finley told Dallas ABC affiliate station WFAA.

When the Finley twins were born in October 2022, their bodies were fused at the chest, and they shared a liver. They eventually underwent a risky separation surgery in January 2023.

More than 50 medical professionals at Cook Children's Medical Center in Fort Worth, Texas, worked together for 11 hours to separate the babies.

"Every conjoined twin has a unique anatomy. They're all different," said Dr. Jose Iglesias, medical director of pediatric surgery at Cook Children's.

Throughout their daughters' difficult journey, the Finleys said they held onto hope.

"I just stayed faithful through everything, the whole time," James Finley said.

Both girls are now home and healthy despite some early challenges for AmieLynn.

"Her heart would go over her windpipe, so her heart is actually on the right side instead of the left," James Finley explained.

AmieLynn's heart is working great now, he said, and the twins have been walking and talking.

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The twins' older brother James Finley Jr. says his sisters can now be whoever they are and do anything they set their minds to.

"They might even learn how to drive cars when they're 18 … and she is already training," he said.

James Finley said although his two daughters are very different -- AmieLynn is "the kind, gentle soul," while JaimeLynn is his "little firecracker," he said -- he hopes his daughters remain close as they grow up.

"I just hope they stick together, stay close, be sisters. I always tell them that," he said.