Separating twins: Utah's Herrin girls to have surgery Monday in Salt Lake

Kendra loves to play games on the computer, while Maliyah would rather play with her Barbies. But the Herrin twins have had to form a cooperative team not often found in 4-year-olds.

When Kendra wants to dance, Maliyah pitches in to help her. When Maliyah wants to go outside, Kendra's usually happy to go along. They have to work together to get up and down the stairs or play video games or put on their shoes.

They are conjoined, their small bodies uniting at the abdomen. They share a pelvis and each controls one leg. While they are always together, their parents, Jake and Erin Herrin, say the twins are not always doing the same thing. Kendra might dress up while Maliyah plays with her beloved Barbie dolls.

Ask the bright, inquisitive Herrin twins how they picture themselves as adults, and they see two separate girls, each living her own life — although there will always be time for each other.

On Monday, two large teams of specialists at Primary Children's Medical Center will separate the twins in an operation that could last anywhere from 12 to 36 hours. It's a prospect their parents approach with both excitement and anxiety.

"This is wearing on us," says Erin Herrin of the hospitalization that began several weeks ago, when doctors placed 17 small bags under the girls' skin to expand it. The bags are slowly stretching as doctors add saline.

"We're doing this because we love them so much," their mother says. "I would really like to get it over with.

"It was a difficult decision to make," the North Salt Lake mother adds. "I like them like this. I'm kind of mourning them being separated. But I know they want to live their own lives. I know it will be better for them."

Conjoined twins occur in one in 50,000 to 100,000 births, and many of them die before or shortly after birth. There are five different types of conjoinment, each with different challenges. Some twins are joined at the head, for instance, and some at the chest or pelvis. Like most conjoined twins, Kendra and Maliyah share some organs, including a kidney and liver.

Their parents and the medical staff have tried to prepare the girls for the coming surgery, but on a level they can understand. Child-life specialist Holly Moss-Rosen made each of the girls a conjoined-twin doll that they could separate when they were ready.

Kendra cut her dolls apart early on. Then they were sewn back together so she could do it again. Maliyah started to cut hers a couple of times, but decided to wait until she and Kendra were separated. Tuesday night, she changed her mind and cut them apart.