Conjoined twins born in Sana’a, Yemen, in December 2020 and successfully separated in Amman, Jordan, have returned home to Yemen after surgery, UNICEF said today.

Ahmed and Mohamed were born joined at the chest and abdomen at Al-Sabeen Children’s Hospital in Sana’a in December 2020. Following the birth, doctors at hospital and health authorities in Sana’a made an urgent call to UNICEF to support their medical evacuation and separation surgery. UNICEF mobilised resources and support for the operation, which took place at the Speciality Hospital in Amman, Jordan, in July.

Now, following several months of recovery after the twins’ surgery, the family have returned home to Sana’a.

“I can’t express my feelings,” said the twins’ father, Yasser Albukhaity. “There was a feeling of fear at the beginning, but we had great faith in Allah and in the medical team. Thank God the surgery was a big success. I want to thank UNICEF, the donors, the Yemeni Health Ministry, and all who provided help in this journey. I wish for them [the twins] to be educated like other children, to finish their higher studies, and to be of great benefit for their country in the future.”

Thanks to generous contributions from multiple private individual donors, UNICEF was able to cover the medical and logistical expenses of this operation.

“We are truly grateful to all the individual private donors, the medical team at the Speciality Hospital in Amman, the Jordanian authorities and many others who have made this success possible, and contributed to give a better chance in life to these children,” said Philippe Duamelle, UNICEF Representative to Yemen.

“This is a welcome happy ending story of one family, but millions of children in Yemen continue to suffer in silence,” said Duamelle. 

“Mohamed and Ahmed return to a country where the war has been raging for almost seven years. In Yemen, today more than ever, children need our support to realise their fundamental rights to health, nutrition, education, protection, as well as water, sanitation and hygiene. Above all, what is urgently required is peace. But until then, we need to remain mobilised to help the children of Yemen.”