The girls were joined at the chest and abdomen: their tiny bodies were fused at one point, from the sternum down to the belly button. They shared a diaphragm and one large liver.

Even their hearts were connected by a major blood vessel, which made it difficult for doctors to say for a long time whether a safe separation would be possible.

Their parents, Jill and Michael, looked at their daughters every day, hoping that one day the girls would be able to live separately.

Anna and Hope spent the first months of their lives in the hospital. They lay side by side, always touching each other with their shoulders and cheeks.