When Maggie and Dom Bateson went for their routine 20-week ultrasound, they were expecting one heartbeat, one tiny life forming inside Maggie’s womb. Instead, the screen revealed two girls, joined at the abdomen — a moment that would change everything. Diagnosed prenatally, Addy and Lily’s journey began with uncertainty, fear, and the daunting reality of a high-risk birth. 💔
Born on November 18, 2020, at CHOP’s Garbose Family Special Delivery Unit, the twins immediately began a fight for survival. They spent six months in the PICU and four months in the N/IICU, where every day was a delicate balance of care, hope, and vigilance. Plastic surgeon Dr. David W. Low carefully prepared their tiny bodies for separation using skin expanders — gradually stretching skin over their chest walls and abdomens, a painstaking process designed to give them the best chance at independent lives. 🩺✨On October 13, 2021, after months of preparation and planning, a team of over two dozen specialists, led by Dr. Holly Hedrick, performed a 10-hour separation surgery. With extraordinary precision, the surgeons reconstructed their hearts, chest walls, and abdominal structures, using layers of mesh and stretched skin to give each girl her own fully functional body. ❤️ It was a moment of hope forged in science, courage, and unwavering dedication.
By December 1, 2021, Annie and Issie returned home to Chicago — one at a time, each in the arms of their parents — after more than a year of intensive hospital care. Maggie and Dom reflect with tears and gratitude:
“We are just so in awe of what they’ve accomplished.” 💛Today, Annie and Issie are thriving, playing, laughing, and growing like any sisters should. Their story is a testament to resilience, to expert care, and to the boundless power of hope. 🌈👭 It reminds the world that even in the face of unimaginable challenges, miracles are possible — one heartbeat, one step, one smile at a time. ✨💖