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"Miracle is the word we have used from the day we found out that we were having them," says British mom Hannah Bateson about her conjoined twin girls Annabelle and Isabelle.
Born in March 2022 at London's University College Hospital, Annabelle and Isabelle are joined at the chest and pelvis and share a bowel, liver, leg, and bladder.
Talking to ITV News, Hannah and her husband Dan shared that they first learned about their girls' condition at the 12-week mark but knew very little about how their baby girls were joined.
"You felt in limbo," Hannah says of the months that followed.
"We were just trying to piece it all together," Dan said.
It was only after their birth - which required a medical team of more than 20 people - that Hannah says she felt a sense of relief.
"It was like the weight of the world had been lifted," the mom recalls.
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Determined to survive
Surgery to separate the girls has been scheduled, and the parents say they're preparing themselves for continual hospital visits.
Not seeing this as a negative, Hannah says even if it means a life lived in and out of hospitals, they'd be happy.
"Our ideal world? We'll be coming back here for the next 18 years - which is a very scary thing to say, but if we're coming back for the next 18 years, it means the girls survived".
The rare condition occurs in one per 50,000 to 200,000 births, and according to studies, only 60% of conjoined twins survive after being surgically separated.
For Hannah and Dan, their girls have shown an equally rare determination to survive.
"At every stage, they've just been determined," Hannah says.
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