here but i still like it. it's really, really good. >> parts unknown, trinidad, sunday night at 9:00 eastern and pacific here on cnn. thanks for watching. have a great weekend. the cnn special report, "separated, saving the twins" starts now. >> announcer: the following is a cnn special report. the rarest of rare. >> hi, pumpkin. >> two boys held togethe, sharing a brain. their parents facing an impossible decision, knowing their only hope for a future is to be separated. >> if you don't get them separated by 3, you've kind of lost that window. >> a terrifying choice. >> how long into this surgery will you know if you can actually separate that vein or not? >> a dangerous operation. >> they've got to continuously move jadon and anias. >> an uncertain future. >> all right. double skin hook. >> cutting through them could

change it. >> the moments, the milestones, the setbacks. >> so i was at a point that i was wondering whether we were going to lose both kids. >> come with us on this extraordinary journey. the exclusive story you've never seen before. "separated, saving the twins." from the first moment christian mcdonald lays eyes on nicole at a nashville bar back in 2011, he knows. >> she looked amazing sitting over there, and honestly i think my feet reacted quicker than my mind even did. i was just -- before i knew it, i was on my way over there. >> it's truly love at first sight. he is pretty sure how he hopes life will progress from there. marriage, kids. >> i guess i never had a number, but three. three was always kind of an

ideal number. >> by spring 2015, the dream is progressing nicely. married with one child, asa, nicole is pregnant again. but something is different this time around. >> we went for a jog when i was four months pregnant, and we got halfway, and i said, something's wrong. >> what did you think at that time? >> i just thought, well, you know, she's pregnant. maybe she's getting older. >> but nicole is only in her late 20s, healthy, physically fit, what we doctors call low risk. on may 20th, 2015, she gets her first routine ultrasound. what she hears comes as quite a surprise. two heartbeats. >> and within ten seconds, she goes, huh, there's two babies in here. and i go what?

>> i was shocked. we was calling everybody. we were kind of bragging at that point. we're having twins. >> then just an hour later, amidst the celebration, comes a call of concern and urgency. >> the radiologist wants to redo the ultrasound herself, personally, now. >> but christian has gone back to work. without her husband by her side, nicole returns to the hospital and sees for herself what was so alarming. >> she said, you know, i don't really know how to say this except for to just say it. that your twins are conjoined at the head. all i could say was, okay, and try and breathe and not cry. i ran through the waiting room and just sobbed in the car till i couldn't breathe.

>> dazed, emotional, nicole finally heads home. her grandmother, rae taylor, is waiting. >> we all had a good cry, and then nikki calmed down. she got very calm. she went into a woman with a plan. >> she turns grief into action. it would become a new mantra in her life, learning everything she can about conjoined twins. the reality is sobering. of the twins conjoined at the head, called craniopagus, 40 brs of them are still born. one-third die within 24 hours of being born. doctors estimates the mcdonalds' twins survival rate at just 10% to 20%. they ask christian and nicole the uneasy question. do they want to terminate the pregnancy? >> no. >> never. never an option. >> no. i said, thank you, but no. >> she was 100% in. her husband, christian, was 100%

in. >> dr. deborah sell up is director of the fetal center at rush university medical center in chicago, illinois. >> they were going to do whatever it took to guarantee the best outcomes for their children. >> whatever it takes, months of never constant monitoring. >> we anticipated delivering nicole, best case scenario, at 36 weeks. >> but the boys have other ideas. september 9th, 2015. 32 weeks along, nicole's water breaks. christian is away on a work trip. he'll have to meet her at the hospit hospital, where, coincidentally, dozens of doctors, nurses, and technicians are together, rehearsing the delivery for the first time that very morning. >> it was a miracle to them that everyone was there. they were pretty blown away by it. >> because everybody's here. >> it's a textbook delivery.

despite being premature, the boys are in remarkably good shape. nicole and christian decide to name them jadon and anias. their names mean god heard and god answered. heard and answered the daily prayers for their survival. >> we felt like god was already with us and really had been with us. >> but then anias begins to struggle. breathing issues, vision problems, heart failures, even seizures. it takes four rocky months to stabilize the twins. february 2016, they are finally ready to go home. >> you're going home. you're going home. >> while every new parent has a steep learning curve -- >> oh, yeah, you shake that, jadon. >> the mcdonalds' is steeper than most. just to move the boys takes two, one adult holding each baby in

complete unison. >> you're out of control. >> no crib will fit them, so they sleep in a queen-size bed. >> you think you're funny? >> instead of a stroller, the mcdonalds use a wagon. >> i got it. i got that belly. >> as the days, weeks, and months pass, they all settle in. life is joyful. >> give them love. >> but in the back of everyone's mind is the realization that the only chance at a real life is separation. >> i'm going to get you. >> so will the mcdonalds' prayers be heard and answered once again? that's when we come back. >> get the babies. get the babies.

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with tempur-pedic.t our proprietary material automatically adjusts to your weight, shape and temperature. so you sleep deeply, and wake up feeling powerful. find your exclusive retailer at tempurpedic.com january 2016. the bustling bronx in new york city. about as far from quiet cole city, illinois, as the mcdonalds can imagine. they're here on a mission. >> we needed someone special. we needed someone very unique to do a surgery like this. >> someone to entrust their children's lives to. >> first time you guys meet goodrich, walk into his office? >> that's when i knew we had the right guy. >> go in his office. >> yeah, when you walk in there, you know he's got heads -- not human heads, but on their dresser. i mean this guy is into his

work. >> these are all basically cranial -- >> i understand what the mcdonalds are talking about when i meet pedestrianic neurosurgeon james goodrich at children's hospital in mont fear. there are heads everywhere, but his mind is singularly focused on separating jadon and anias. >> the goal ideally is to have both children come out without neurological issues, but one has to be realistic. i mean you cannot separate two brains, particularly if there is fusion, without the potential risk of something happening. >> a risk others have taken with goodrich. he has separated more twins joined at the head than any other surgeon in the world. >> they have since undergone -- >> ironically, he stumbled upon this specialty years ago when a charity for families in need asked him to help separate a set of conjoined twins. >> i had really done my homework and looked at the literature on craniopagus twins at that time,

i would never have accepted them because the literature was devastating. >> historically, the operation was so invasive that the likelihood of both twins surviving was abysmally low. so low, in fact, that doctors used to ask parents to pick which twin to save. but that's changed now. instead of doing one marathon separation surgery, goodrich does several smaller operations spread out over several months. he slowly separates vessels and tissues. >> the concept is that if you're trying to cut all of these veins at one time, the kid can take a huge hit, and that's the kid you're going to lose. or if the kid does survive, it's going to be devastated. >> he first tried this technique in 2004 with 2-year-old twins clarence and carl aguirre, and it worked. both boys survived. >> since doing it now, we've had no deaths, no mortality. >> no mortalities in nearly a

dozen operations. >> sweet boy. >> a result he hopes for with jadon and anias, and there's no time to lose. >> if you don't get them separated by 3, you've kind of lost that window. >> the mcdonalds know the clock is ticking. >> are you my little munchkin? >> but just looking at their twins, this he appear to be thriving just the way they are. laughing, singing, even fighting over toys just like all siblings do. >> i know. anias is playing with it. >> for nicole, they're perfect. >> they looked at me like their mother. they -- they reached for my face, and they -- they did everything a baby that age would do, except they were stuck. they were individually perfect, and i knew that cutting through

them could change it. >> nicole is terrified to change who her boys are, but she knows they need this operation to survive. so just one month after that meeting in the bronx, march 2016, the mcdonalds learn their home in illinois on a donated private plane for new york city. >> was there a special medical setup of some sort? >> on the plane? no. >> no. >> they think there is no need. the boys are stable when they take off. then one hour into the flight, anias mysteriously stops breathing. >> his lips were turning a little bit blue. he wasn't responding to me. nothing. i pinched him. i just did everything i could. >> nothing works. nicole panics. >> this is a good amount of time. i rolled him on his side, and he went -- >> anias starts breathing and stabilizes for the rest of the trip. >> it was influenza b.

>> that's what it was for anias? >> uh-huh. >> the flu. but so severe, it takes two months for anias to recover. only then can the painful journey towards separation begin. over the next five months, four operations. starting first in the front of the head, then the side, and then the back. during each operation, doctors carefully clip blood vessels and separate shared tissue. then the hardest and most painful surgery. tissue expanders like balloons are inserted and filled with water to create the excess skin that will be necessary after the final separation. >> our hope is we have a pretty good foundation for a skull reconstruction and plenty of scalp to close over that. >> craniofacial surgeon dr. orrin tepper has been tasked with reconstructing each of the boy's heads once they are separated. >> i think this is about as risky as it gets. the complexity of it, we've planned every step. >> and every step so far is

successful. and by october, everyone, especially these little boys, is ready. >> these are our babies. this is jadon. and this is anias. >> it's two days before the final separation. she's right. you wouldn't know it. while they bear the scars of those earlier operations, these 13-month-old boys seem like happy, even carefree little kids. but it all weighs heavily on their parents. >> it's been hard. every day is a decision. it was a leap of faith, though, because we had to move our whole family out here. >> remarkable faith despite remarkable uncertainty. >> it doesn't matter what the statistics say. the surgery is going to happen, and it's -- the outcomes are going to be whatever god allows them to be. >> are you being funny, anias? are you ready to be your own boy

tomorrow? >> and so the night before the operation, all christian and nicole can do is what they have done every night since the twins were born. a bottle, a cuddle, and a little prayer before bed. >> i love you. god loves you more. >> will those prayers be answered? >> everything is going to be okay. >> we are going directly inside the operating room when we come back. dearthere's no other way to say this. it's over. i've found a permanent escape from monotony. together, we are perfectly balanced. our senses awake. our hearts racing as one. i know this is sudden, but they say...if you love something set it free. see you around, giulia

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as the sun rises, jadon and anias mcdonald wake up. >> good morning, gentlemen. >> to the biggest day of their young lives. it's separation day. >> are you ready to rock and roll? >> ready to go from one to two. but huge hurdles remain. >> how long into the surgery will you know if you can actually separate that vein or not? >> hopefully by afternoon. >> christian is talking about a crucial shared vein that drains blood from both boys' brains. it's delicate. goodrich won't know until he gets close if he can separate it. goodrich and his team of 30-plus

doctors and nurses have been prepping for months, and now they're putting the final touches on operating room number 10. >> i've never seen this sort of setup before, so literally two operating tables and two sort of setups for both boys here. >> the advantage to this is that once you separate them, you just rotate the tables 90 degrees opposite. >> screens with brain images will guide the team as well as anatomically exact models of the twins. >> is there is a way to contextualize how much this makes your life easier? >> huge. there's no guesswork anymore. you really physically have it right there. >> it's a complete game-changer. that's pretty amazing. i mean literally cut here. >> the idea here is we know exactly where we need to be. >> yet despite the technology, goodrich and tepper know this is not foolproof. these boys are 14 months old and growing fast. every day their brains become

more fused, and they sprout new blood vessels, facts that keep even the most experienced doctor up at night. >> do you get nervous a couple days out? >> i think any big case, you do. there's not a day that you don't think about it. >> and this day, october 13th, is no different. at 7:15 in the morning, the journey to the operating room begins with big brother aza on for the ride. >> there you go, baby. down the elevator. >> the twins are taking it all in. >> okay. >> okay. >> that's right, boss. >> soon they make it to the doors of the surgical suite. >> you can go into there. >> a big kiss for a speedy operation. >> time to say good-bye. no one, especially aza, wants to let go. [ baby crying ]

it could be the last time they see jadon and anias together. as their parents head for the waiting room, jadon and anias are now carefully placed and positioned on the operating table. >> one, two, go. >> like everything that will happen during this operation, it's rehearsed, practiced, and carefully choreographed. it has to be. >> you have two children that are conjoined, and the complexity of what they share for the anesthesiologist passing over drugs, for the icu intensivist trying to give one kid a drug, the other kid picks it up, it's just an enormous

ordeal. >> give me a little more. >> the clock officially starts at 9:45 a.m. plastic surgeon dr. oren tepper makes the first indecision. double skin hooks. >> cutting through the scalp to the conjoined skull and then removing the bone. >> get some bone wax ready. >> that he'll save and use later to rebuild each boy's head. at 10:15 a.m., dr. goodrich takes over and begins the process of exposing the delicate brain tissue. he starts with the parts of the brain he worked on before, opening them up to get access deeper into the shared tissue. >> in order to do this operation, they've got to continuously move jadon and anias. so this is the position that they're in beforehand, and they essentially flip like this and then like this. so now they're going to focus on this part of the bone and this

part of the brain. just seven hours after the first indecision, we check in with the family. it's 5:00 p.m. >> really? what's waiting in my stomach is for that phone call. okay. we're into -- i call it the land of the unknown. really we're into that area that we just don't know are we going to be separated today, or are we not? >> around 10:00 p.m., 12 hours since the operation started, doctors hit that land of the unknown. >> so i was at a point that i was wondering whether we were going to lose both kids. >> goodrich has to stop. >> no, no, don't do that. the reason why, you'll tear these guys. >> the dream of separating these boys is about to end. >> you want to go through that doughnut. >> the boys share more brain tissue than expected, six to seven centimeters, not two, and that crucial shared vein which drains blood from each brain is

more complex than goodrich expected. if he injures it or just kinks it, the blood won't drain, and both boys' brains will begin to swell. that could be devastating. >> this is the veinous complex. >> but then at 1:30 a.m., goodrich and his team see a way through the land of the unknown. >> you should be one centimeter away from it. >> you can see it right there. >> and in the midst of the quiet chaos, all of a sudden -- [ applause ] 2:11 a.m., almost 17 hours after they began, jadon and anias mcdonald are separated. now each boy's head can be rebuilt and closed up. jadon is finished first. >> how did it go, do you think?

>> much better once we got it figured out. >> goodrich tells me it was one of the toughest and longest separations he's ever done. >> if i hadn't been able to do that, we would have had to stop. and i don't know what i would do the second time around. so good thing we got it done the first time. >> but not all done. remember anias? he's not out of the woods. he's still in surgery. his fight when we come back. i'm not a customer, but i'm calling about that credit scorecard. give it. sure! it's free for everyone. oh! well that's nice! and checking your score won't hurt your credit. oh! i'm so proud of you. well thank you. free at at discover.com/creditscorecard, even if you're not a customer.

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got a sense of humor. >> in an elevator surrounded by doctors and nurses, jadon mcdonald is out of surgery and headed to intensive care. >> every ding of the elevator, my heart was like just pounding out of my chest. >> his parents are waiting. the last time they saw jadon, he was attached to his brother. >> and then it was just jadon. it was something i can't even explain because i've waited for

that moment and seeing them for such a long time. i felt like all my dreams had come true, but then at the same time, my heart was aching for my other baby that was downstairs. >> anias is still in operate be room number 10. reconstructing his head is turning out to be more complicated than his brother's. the gurney that was supposed to take him to the nicu hours ago still lays empty. >> he's the one that needs so much more help. >> he's always got the short end of the stick. every single time, and i mean every single time. >> and this time is no different. >> your a-line's gone. >> better? >> no. >> throughout the marathon operations, doctors continuously struggled to stabilize anias. >> i feel like anias is a little unstable. >> his blood pressure, his heart rate plummeted. >> tracing. >> over and over.

>> better. >> yes, much better. >> and to separate the boys, dr. goodrich dissected more of anias' brain tissue. in particular, the area that controls motor function. the concern, he might not be able to move his arms or his legs. but his parents' faith is still undeniable, unshakeable. >> i knew god got him this far. why is he going to let him go now? >> finally around 1:00 p.m., 27 hours after the operation began -- >> you want to kiss him? >> -- it ends. anias is finally reunited with his parents. >> he looks beautiful. >> and soon back with his brother in the same room. but for the first time in their lives, on separate beds. the operation is complete, but it's the first 72 hours that are

still the most critical. >> jadon had extremely high fevers, incredibly uncomfortable, lots of pain. he wasn't using his left side at all. >> we knew that post-operatively, both children would have some type of weakness. we did not know how severe, and of course we don't know how long it will last. >> almost immediately anias starts having seizures. one lasts 45 minutes. doctors manage the seizures with medication, and nicole -- well, she manages them like only a mom can, lying beside anias, reading him books, singing him songs. and each time she does, his heart rate slows. his blood pressure lowers, and he calms down. ♪ meanwhile, four days after the operation, jadon wakes up.

he is ready for something his parents had only dreamed of. he can be picked up and cuddled for the first time. it's as if nicole sees him for the first time. >> as a mother, you know when you hold your child, you know every bit of their face. well, his face also encompassed anias'. so it was my first moment of relearning his face. when he looked up at me for the first time in that way, i got to see that he was reassured, and he was comforted in my arms, which is something i was scared o of. i was scared he didn't want to be held because they had never been held. he melted in, and it was wonderful. i just couldn't stop talking to him and telling him how beautiful he was and how strong he was and how proud of him i am.

that i just love him. i just said, i love you, i love you, i love you. >> it's such a powerful moment, a moment she also yearns to have with anias. but she can't, not yet. >> tomorrow is the big day. i think we're going to get that tube out of your mouth. >> now one week post-surgery, his seizures have stopped, but there is something else. a serious infection around the brain. >> what we've had to do is really scale back some of that bony reconstruction and to be able to fight that infection. >> dr. tepper is forced to remove infected skin and bone, and anias is left without skull around most of his brain. >> for anias, there's never a break. >> no break in the pain that he suffers and no break for a mother torn between two very needy and separate babies.

>> you get this guilt like, oh, which baby do i go to, and how do i do it? it's an odd change. jadon! >> and also remember her 3-year-old, aza, has not been allowed in intensive care, and nicole hasn't left since the surgery three weeks ago. finally she feels confident enough to leave. >> i was like, all right. we're going to go to dinner. and we had a great time at dinner. >> until a message from the hospital. >> it's like one of my worst moments, i swear. >> it's not anias this time, but jadon. he's having a massive seizure. they're trying desperately to get it under control. >> your earth sattehatters, and feel the worst guilt for leaving them because who was holding his

hand? it wasn't me. and was he afraid? why did i leave my baby? >> jadon stabilizes, and for the next few weeks, she is by their side nonstop until she has no choice. that part of the story when we come back. no touch ups needed? superstay 24 from maybelline new york. microflex technology stays crack-proof. resists 200 bites... 120 sips. ...it's lifeproof! maybelline's superstay 24

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oh, my goodness. >> one month post-separation -- >> hi, buddy. >> a month of firsts for jazdon and anias mcdonald. >> the last time we were in this room, they were conjoined. >> first time in separate beds. first time being held. and first time actually seeing each other. >> are you sticking your tongue out at me? >> yeah, it's a new trick. he wants you to do it. are you going to smile? >> each day is new, like today, november 15th. it's the first time nicole and christian will see jadon's head without bandages. >> oh, it's amazing. it's the most amazing thing. i just can't even believe it. and look at his little hair on top. it's growing in.

hi, baby. >> jadon has come a long way. he's moving, talking, back, nicole says, to his pre-surgery self. >> jadon is now even more rambunctio rambunctious, and he loves everybody. like he smiles at everybody. he wants to play with everybody. he's got 900 girlfriends on the tenth floor. he's out of control. >> anias has not come as far. >> it's okay. nobody's here to touch you but me, in a nice way. no pain. >> when you understand what's happened in the last month, you'll understand what's going on here. >> anias is sadly still shy and reserved, but now has this fear component because every time people approach him that aren't our family, it's a pain thing. >> anias continues to fight

life-threatening infections and return trips to the operating room. just last week, he had a skin graft. healthy tissue was surgically removed from his back and used to replace diseased, infected skin on his head. it's all extremely painful. this is the first day nicole has been here to comfort anias. >> i've actually been gone. my 3-year-old has hand foot mouth. >> hand footh and mouth disease, of course is very contagious and potentially dangerous for the babies. >> we were quarantined because neither christian nor i could come here. we didn't want to bring anything here. >> so they make the best of being away. much needed quality time with aza, road tripping to boston and connecticut. they try to escape the worry. >> were you able to mentally leave? >> no. no. i called a lot. >> probably very good for you, your mental health. >> it was. it was good. >> but the boys missed.

anias is especially happy to see her return. >> another smile. this is not possible. >> he smiled right at me. i mean he smiles right at me, and it wasn't just like a little half smile. it was like a, mommy! it was so encouraging for me today because we haven't had a break in the pain. >> and he's slowly starting to move his arms and legs. >> he can't reach out his hands in a coordinated way yet, but he can move his arms and hands in a way that is hopeful to me. >> despite what she thought was a slow progress and setbacks, dr. goodrich said her boys' recovery is ahead of schedule. >> we're a month. if you can say this is one month out, this to me is incredibly fast. >> goodrich credits the recovery to the boys' brains and bodies which are resilient, but also that their mother is nicole mcdonald. before the boys were separated, she worked with them daily. she's a pediatric physical therapist. >> it's been kind of my mission to prepare them so that when

it's done and they're separated, they're not so far behind that they have so much catching up to do. >> preparation that now makes a difference. >> i expected a more prolonged course. >> when you say more prolonged, what is a longer -- >> if mom had asked me the length, i would say three, four, maybe six months. >> in fact, dr. goodrich anticipates these boys will be able to leave the hospital before thanksgiving. that's just a month and a half after their operation. it's hard to imagine. >> okay, okay, okay. >> but weeks later, on december 13th, goodrich is a man of his word. >> dr. gupta. >> no more tubes or monitors. >> they've changed so much since i last saw them. >> dmo more infections or seizures. jadon and anias are eating, rolling around. >> look at that, arm wrestling. >> while they're no longer

connected at the head, these two boys share an unshakeable bond. >> they always touch. >> i don't pose them. >> they always -- they'll lock arms, and they're always holds hands. i mean they have a great bond. >> take all these cords off. you don't need these. >> it's time for them to leave the hospital and head to rehab. it's the next step in the recovery. >> do you know this guy? >> but first good-byes for the people who made their dreams come true. >> are you going to be okay saying good-bye to all these folks? >> it's not good-bye. it's just see you later. >> as they prepare to leave, there are lots of see you laters. >> getting so big! >> and lots of thank-yous. >> and it's a huge testament to you that we don't want to leave here. we love you, and we'll miss you immensely. >> it seems fitting that they leave the hospital as they came. >> look at that right arm. >> in a red wagon that the family has used to move the boys around. before they were separated, it

was the only thing long enough to hold them. but now it's wide enough to hold them if they are laying side by side with big brother aza leading the way. >> bye. >> after 174 days of up and downs, tears, and fears, it's . >> when we come back. nt. that's why i have the spark cash card from capital one. with it, i earn unlimited 2% cash back on all of my purchasing. and that unlimited 2% cash back from spark means thousands of dollars each year going back into my business... which adds fuel to my bottom line. what's in your wallet? dearthere's no other way to say this. it's over.

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the sun is shining bright on this cold december day, 2016 in value hall len, new york. just two months after a 27-hour operation to separate them, jay den and anigh yas mcdonald are arriving at lie dell children's hospital. for now it's their new home where they will learn to aet, play, sit up, become little boys, independence that last. >> we know the boys are flourish here and it's an exciting step. >> hello hello. >> hello. >> hi. >> when i first visit it's breakfast time. >> she's watching and making sure how much he's eating and

how much he's doing. >> how's he doing is he like a b minus right now or a d. >> within speaks the boys are this riving. >> i really notice their growth each time, i don't know if you get to notice it because you see them every day. >> i can feel it. >> also, you can't miss these, customized helmets to protect their delicate heads. >> these are the wild things. in the storybook where the wild things are. he's our little wild thing and then anigh yas's helmet is still under construction. still got some work to do. >> a lot of work. in the world of conjoined twins there are always struggles which begin soon after riving here. >> i walk in the door go up to anigh yas's bed, the top of his head is as red as my dress. he's hot and sweaty and just

looking kind of out of it. >> looks like another infection. >> he starts having a seizure, twitching on his right side, right face and then his fever just kept going. >> we get a phone call there may be an issue, we take very seriously and certainly get very concerned this may be something more serious. >> anigh yas is rushed 16 miles back to mont ford mel center. the doctor is waiting. >> the plates that we used to hold the bone together is sometimes create this inflammatory reaction that the body tries to reject a foreign body. >> it's serious but not entirely unexpected. ndiayes of wound cleaning and anti-biotic anigh yas turns a corner. then jay den gets an infection vel. it's his first.

>> i was devastated by it because jay den's supposed to be the tough one. >> each hurdle brings that same dev tags, but the doctor knows jay den is a fighter just like his brother. >> which i think really exceeded all my kppgs, they really had made tremendous progress. >> as the saying often goes what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. jay den and anigh yas rolling over, reaching for toys, talking nonstop. >> hey baby. >> and unbelievable by june. >> come to me. >> something none of us expected to see so soon. walking. >> yeah. >> and jay den is not alone. >> come come come. >> anigh yas is close behind. >> oh, you big boy.

>> it's amazing right. anigh yas i just saw him for first time, you doesn't believe what they can do. >> remember these boys were just separated in october of 2016, they were just over a year old. by doctors say the day of their operation was a new birthday, a rebirth. and now they're learning everything they had never had a chance to do. >> they're right on schedule. actually having them here helps me to see and remember how far they've come because not everybody has seen them from the surgery you know, and to be able to talk to you and say look at what they can do, look at what they can do. >> they really seem to be doing well. they're thriving. just the sitting up the atentativeness, the focus. i think it's been a long road. >> these boys have worked hard against all odds to chart their

own future. >> they have a life, a good one and they live it to the full. they love life. >> because as two separate boys, the future is without limits. jay den and anigh yas, their separation is an operation the likes of which i've never seen before. it's the best of us, the best medicine has to offer dedicated, dill general and compassionate doctors, nurses therapist using the most remarkable technology and techniques to separate and save these twins. to give them a chance, to give them a future. >> they're just doing so much compared to where they came from, so imagine what the next ten years may be. >> there's no boundaries for those babies. those babies are going to do everything. those baby wills walk and they will talk and they will play and

they will grow and they will learn. there's nothing that's going to hold them back and they are going to have a happy life.