They were separated at the age of six weeks. It was a very risky operation. The other day, the beauties Jannat and Zainab Rahman, who live in the UK, celebrated their 16th birthday.“This is a distant nightmare. At the time, I didn’t even dare to imagine that day. And looking at them now is amazing.
They had the worst chances,” says the mother of her twin girls. Doctors did not hide from their parents that the chances of a successful separation and subsequent normal life in newborn Jannat and Zainab are very small. But they took a chance and are now incredibly proud of their beautiful daughters.
Their father, Luther, director of business development, talks about his daughters: “I am the happiest father in the world. When I see these two, I feel like God has given me a gift. We treasure it so much. Every day. And we are very proud of them!”
The news that the girls were Siamese twins was made known to their parents on their first scan in 2002, when doctors advised Nita Rahman to consider an abortion. “But we said, whoever they are, they are our children. They said they both had a one in a million chance of survival. And if they survived, there was a chance that one of the children might lose a limb or get sick.
Luckily, the organ that they had in common was the only one that could regenerate, and that was the liver. They were more worried about Jannat. They said there was little chance of her survival. Jannat had a hole in her heart.”
After separation, Jannat went to the intensive care unit for further surgery. During this time, Zainab, feeling the absence of her sister by her side, became restless, refused to eat and could not sleep. “At first we couldn’t figure out what the problem was. But then one of the nurses had an idea and brought a mirror. And suddenly Zainab began to look at her reflection and smile. She was happy again.”
The girls have not yet parted for more than one day. They are best friends. But soon they will have to separate, as they have different plans for the future and will have to study at different universities. Zainab plans to study at Cambridge to become a pediatrician, while Jannat plans to go to Oxford to become a lawyer. Now – they are the best students in the school in East London.
