When Melissa and Kevin Buckles learned that Melissa was pregnant in 2003, the news was both joyous and heartbreaking: she was pregnant with twins, but the twins were conjoined. "They shared a liver, a diaphragm, and we learned that they also shared the pericardium," recalls Melissa, 37. Six weeks before her due date, Melissa had an emergency C-section, and Erin and Jade came into the world. The girls were released to go home after only a week, and Melissa and Kevin began the process of learning how to care for their conjoined babies, from diapering and feeding to changing clothes.

Due to the location of the girls' attachment, chances were good that Erin and Jade could be successfully separated. "But if they thought that one or both would definitely die during the separation surgery," Melissa recalls, "we wouldn't risk it." After the operation, both girls were doing well on their own, but while Jade was kicking her legs, Erin showed little movement. It was then that Melissa and Kevin learned another bit of devastating news: Erin had suffered a stroke to her spinal cord during the surgery. "Basically, a lack of blood flow to a section of her cord," Melissa says. "And that section of her cord had died, and so she was paralyzed from midchest down."

The girls, now 7, are the best of friends, and though there are still struggles to overcome - including one more operation in the future and therapy for Erin - there's nothing they can't handle together. "What keeps Erin motivated is that she so desperately wants to walk someday," Melissa says, "and so she knows that in order to get there she has to work hard." And big sister Jade will be there every small step of the way: "I'm going to keep helping Erin," she smiles.

Related Links

Families of Conjoined Twins Yahoo! Group

The Buckles Family Website