THE 13-month-old Fijian conjoined twins Jesepeli and Dicecea Kikau have been successfully separated following a major operation in Saudi Arabia.
The twins underwent surgery at the King Abdullah Specialist Children’s Hospital in Riyadh on Thursday, October 15, under the Saudi Conjoined Twins Program.
The complex procedure involved a team of 34 medical professionals, including surgeons, specialists, nurses and technical staff, and was expected to take about 15 hours across nine stages.
The operation was led by Dr Abdullah Al-Rabeeah, head of the Saudi Conjoined Twins Program and supervisor general of the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre.
Medical assessments found that the twins were joined at the abdomen and pelvis, sharing several vital organs and structures, including the liver, intestines, colon, urinary and reproductive systems, and pelvic bone.
Doctors had assessed the procedure as having a 70 per cent chance of success because of its complexity.
Jesepeli and Dicecea were born at the Colonial War Memorial Hospital in Suva in September 2025 and are part of a set of triplets.
Their parents had sought specialist treatment overseas, but the estimated cost of more than $US1million ($F2.2m) was beyond the family’s financial means.
The Saudi Government subsequently agreed to cover the twins’ medical treatment, travel and accommodation expenses.
