Conjoined Jamaican Twins Successfully Separated in Complex Surgery in Riyadh

     Riyadh, November 14, 2025, SPA -- A specialized medical and surgical team under the Saudi Conjoined Twins Programme achieved a major medical milestone on Thursday by successfully separating the Jamaican conjoined twins Azaria and Azora Elson. The complex surgery took place at King Abdullah Specialist Children’s Hospital, part of King Abdulaziz Medical City of the Ministry of National Guard in Riyadh.
   The surgery was completed in just five hours, as the twins did not share intestines. The team was keen on expediting the operation due to Azora’s critical heart condition.
   King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center Supervisor-General Dr. Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al-Rabeeah, a pediatric surgeon who heads the program’s medical and surgical team, explained that the two-year-old twins were joined at the lower chest, abdomen, and liver, with a suspected intestinal and pericardial connection. One twin also suffered from a major congenital heart defect and reduced cardiac pumping function.
   Al-Rabeeah noted that the procedure was carried out in six stages, involving a team of 25 consultants, specialists, and nursing and technical staff across anesthesia, pediatric surgery, and plastic surgery specialties.
   The separation of Azaria and Azora marks the 67th successful separation under the program, which has cared for 152 twins from 28 countries across five continents over the past 35 years, Al-Rabeeah said, highlighting the Kingdom’s leading role in humanitarian and medical efforts.
   He also emphasized that the United Nations’ proclamation of November 24 as World Conjoined Twins Day originated from a Saudi initiative to raise awareness of these humanitarian cases and celebrate achievements in conjoined twin separation surgeries.
   -- SPA