Separating Safa and Marwa

Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children (GOSH) in London is a globally renowned children’s hospital, championing innovation across more than 60 clinical specialties and providing ground-breaking treatments for the rarest and most complex conditions. Because of this, GOSH is one of only a few hospitals in the world to have the infrastructure, facilities and team of experts to take on the most challenging of conditions – twins who are conjoined.

Meet Safa and Marwa

The twins were born in Pakistan in January 2017 - the family had not been expecting twins, so it was a surprise when they arrived! The twins were conjoined by their head - craniopagus twins. 

After consultation with their doctors, the family came to the International and Private Patient Service at GOSH in autumn 2018 for further treatment. The twins were cared for on Bumblebee Ward, one of GOSH’s private mixed-specialty wards.

Staff at GOSH separated the twins over four months with three procedures, involving a 100-strong team. The first operation took place in October 2018 and the last operation, which saw the girls finally separated, took place in February 2019.

The twins were cared for by a multi-specialty team including experts from specialties such as craniofacial, neurology and psychology, as well as nurses, radiologists, occupational therapists and physiotherapists.

Watch our animation about the separation process

After recovering from the procedures and undergoing physiotherapy and occupational therapy support, the twins left GOSH in July 2019. Despite the long recovery that the twins now face, the team at the hospital are hopeful that they will both live happy and active lives.

Read more about their story and the work of the hospital by clicking this link.

Meet the team

Learn more about Safa and Marwa's stories by the experts who treated them!