Conjoined twins Kendra and Maliyah Herrin were born on February 26, 2002 sharing a large intestine, bladder, liver, and single kidney. This left their parents Erin and Jake to make the difficult decision about whether they should undergo the dangerous separation surgery or not.

“One doctor told us he thought everything from the twins’ chest, down was mush, and they didn’t have the organs they needed to survive on their own outside of my womb,” Erin said. “Another doctor told us to simply abort the twins because it was all too complicated. But I’d seen our daughters’ faces close up, at an MRI scan, and fallen in love with them. I was determined to do whatever it took to bring them into the world safely, even if it meant risking my own life.”

Erin and Jake decided to have the twins undergo risky separation surgery when they were 4 years-old. The surgery was groundbreaking because Kendra and Maliyah were the first twins sharing a kidney to be successfully separated. Doctors warned their parents of the low survival rate of the surgery, but much to everyone’s joy and surprise, the girls thrived afterwards!

After a 26 hour surgery, the girls were finally separated, with Kendra keeping the kidney they shared. Meanwhile, Maliyah underwent dialysis until her mother Erin gave her one of her kidneys.

Though they were glad to be separated, it was a big adjustment for the twins to learn to live life on their own.

“The girls were happy to be independent at last, but sometimes I’d find them playing and walking around the house on crutches, sometimes holding on to one another like they were still conjoined,” Erin said.

In the video below, you’ll see an update on the twins when they were 11 years-old. Check it out below!