A couple in China are thanking strangers worldwide for helping their children, Yu Ce Yuan and Yu Ce Xiang, nicknamed James and Harley. The twins were born conjoined at the chest, sharing a liver, pelvic bone, and intestines. The surgery to separate the siblings was risky and expensive, and doctors speculated whether or not it could be done.

This seemed especially unlikely considering the financial situation of the two parents, Yu Dang and Zhou Li.

Yu and Zhou come from one of the poorest areas in China, where it is common to abandon children born with defects or disabilities. However, these parents simply refused to leave their children to die or in the care of someone else.

“I gave birth to these children. They’re my flesh, and I wouldn’t give them to anyone else,” Zhou said.

However, the couple was able to pay for their conjoined twins’ $60,000 separation thanks to the donations of kind strangers through an online funding website. Once the money was in, the surgery for the twins was planned and quickly underway.

After twelve hours of intensive surgery, doctors were able to successfully separate the babies. In order to reconstruct their pelvic cavities, doctors used new 3D-printing technology, and otherwise managed to separate the shared organs without any harm coming to the children. The doctors had been practicing in Shanghai with this 3D technology for a little less than a year; this was their ninth surgery on conjoined twins to date.

 

Understandably, the parents’ worst fear was that the surgery would fail and they would return home with only one child. Worse, they worried that both children would be lost during the surgery.

Yu had no idea she was pregnant with conjoined twins until she gave birth. When the babies were born and the couple learned about their condition, they were at first terrified by the cost of the procedure; it seemed they might have to choose one of the babies to save. There has never been a more terrible decision for a parent to make.

But when their touching story got out, thousands of donations flooded in from all corners of the globe. The parents were able to pay for the surgery that would, hopefully, save both kids and improve their quality of life.

Thanks to those people and the diligent doctors who performed the successful surgery, the twins look amazing at five-months-old! Doctors are very happy with their progress and hope the two can live happy, normal lives.

Naturally, the couple has so much gratitude for the doctors who saved their children, they hope that James and Harley will become doctors some day, too.

“In the future I hope they can be doctors, because if there hadn’t been doctors, they wouldn’t have the life they have now,” Yu said.

What do you think of this amazing story? Were you amazed by the amount of donations that came in for the new parents? Share your thoughts on the entire touching tale in the comments section below.