Maisie and Mackenzie Garrison were born in 2003, the girls were Siamese twins with a common pelvis, common leg and fused intestines. But that’s not all: their mother gave birth to triplets that time! The third sister, Madeline, turned out to be without pathologies.
The triplets are now teenagers.
The parents of the unique triplets used drugs, so the girls were transferred to a foster family.
This brave couple already had the experience of raising 10 other adopted children, and at that moment three sons already lived in the house. And still, it was not easy with the Siamese twins: each of them weighed a little more than a kilogram and was not distinguished by health.
Moving into the second grade, the triplets said that their favorite subjects were physical education and the arts.
The sisters remained in a playful mood during their recovery: this photo was taken just five days after the operation!
Jeff Garrison (pictured) and his wife Darla picked up all three girls and brought them to their home in Riverside, California.
On September 10, 2003, Mackenzie and Maisie underwent a 24-hour separation operation at the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles. They were nine months old.
The surgeons managed to split the girls’ fused liver, reshape Mackenzie’s intestines and amputate the third leg, leaving each of the little ones with one full leg. They also had to rebuild the girls’ pelvis.
According to the University of Maryland Medical Center, in the United States, for every 200,000 successful births, there is one Siamese twin. And more than 70 percent of them are girls!
According to the babies’ father, Jeff Garrison, Mackenzie returned home from the hospital after six weeks, and Macy took another month to fully recover.
Prostheses were made for Mackenzie and Maisie, and the work of physiotherapists began to teach the girls to walk.
Mom, Darla Garrison, says that she is immensely grateful to the doctors of that Los Angeles Children’s Hospital: “It was an incredible team – I don’t even know how many people – but we really appreciate how they took care of us!”
All three girls learned to ride.
The family moved to a farm in Iowa, where they had 10 horses, two dogs and four cats.
Mom says that the girls grew up very independent: “They had household chores, they took care of pets – that is, they were pretty normal 7-year-old girls.”
Girls try not to lag behind other children of their age in anything.
In addition to triplets, the Harrisons have three sons – Tyler, Matt and Luke. “Our sons … were just incredibly merciful and patient,” says Darla Garrison.