Regina and Renata were born with fused breastbones and pelvises, livers and intestines. They have separate hearts, lungs, heads, necks, shoulders, arms and legs. Doctors at the Children’s Hospital in Los Angeles hope to successfully separate the girls. (Javier Manzano / LAT)
A team of doctors work on Regina and Renata Salinas Fierros at the beginning of what is expected to be a 24-hour operation that will last until approximately 6 a.m. on Thursday. (Javier Manzano / LAT)
Two members of the 80-member surgical team confer. A model of the twins’ skeletons in the foreground shows how the two girls are joined at the hip bone, one of the many challenges facing the surgeons. (Javier Manzano / LAT)
Doctors hold the tiny legs of Regina and Renata Salinas Fierros as they make the initial incisions to separate the 10-month-old twins. (Javier Manzano / LAT)
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Federico Salinas, 36, left, and Sonia Fierros, 23, talk to reporters in the waiting room of the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles. The operation began just after 6 a.m. on Wednesday morning. (Javier Manzano / LAT)