As twins, Yigit and Derman Evrensel have an unusually tight bond. But that closeness runs even deeper than it does for most multiples because the brothers were born conjoined at the head in 2018. Now, nearly two years after their birth in Antalya, Turkey, their family is finally celebrating what they're calling a kind of "rebirth." Earlier this year, surgeons in London were able to successfully separate them — and this week, they finally returned home.
According to Yahoo News, the brothers have been living in the UK with their parents for the last year.
During that time, they underwent a series of operations at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London. The last one, which took place January 28, resulted in their full separation.
"When I saw them separated, I burst into tears," their father, Omer, said this week. "This was our only dream."
Now that the boys are fully recovered, both of their parents can breathe a little easier.
"I could never leave them for a second, but I also couldn't hug them or cradle them," said their mother Fatma, who was once given the option to terminate the pregnancy and refused.
Now, she says she is "overjoyed that their agony is over."
It wasn't until this month that the Evrensels finally got the go-ahead to return to Turkey. And they couldn't be happier about it.
"Now they can play, do whatever they want like their peers," Omer shared. “They'll start life again, they're almost reborn. We'll start everything from scratch.”
None of this could have happened, however, if it hadn't been for the kindness and generosity of strangers.
Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and his wife reportedly helped transport the family to the UK, and several anonymous donors — including a Turkish businessman and Turkish doctors in the UK — are said to have covered the cost of the surgery.
For that, the Evrensels are eternally grateful.
"Our babies have no problems," Omer told reporters soon after arriving in Turkey. "There is no problem in their eating and drinking, everything is normal."
Fatma added how happy she is to see her boys move independently from one another, because they were always bumping into things when trying to crawl.
Fatma was reportedly five months pregnant when she received the shocking news about the twins from her doctor.
She had gone in for a routine appointment to learn her baby's gender. Instead, she was stunned to learn that she was not only having twin boys but that the babies were conjoined.
"I've been told all sorts of things that cannot be told to a mother," she shared in one recent interview. "They said, 'Abort the babies, they won't survive.' But I said, 'No, it's my decision, and I will look after them."
Conjoined twins are rare, occurring once in every 200,000 live births.
All conjoined twins are identical and same-sex, however 70% of them are born female, according to CNN. Sadly, most are stillborn.
But craniopagus twins, who are joined at the back, top, or side of the head, are even more rare — accounting for just 2% of overall cases. And craniopagus twins who are both male and survive well past their birth? Well, that's certainly something doctors don't see every day.
Craniopagus twins share a part of the skull, but their brains are usually separate, the Mayo Clinic noted, just like Yigit and Derman. Yet although keeping them together can present a lifetime of challenges, separating them can also be a costly and life-threatening proposition. In many cases, it's not always possible. Luckily, this time it was.
Of course, it wasn't easy.
Fatma said everything was difficult — from feeding the boys to clothing them — but they got through it.
Omer added that the prognosis doctors gave them was grim. At one point, doctors told them that one of the boys might not make it and the other would be paralyzed.
The worry each parent carried was crippling, but it finally began to subside when they received an unexpected visit one day from the First Lady of Turkey, Emine Erdogan, who was so moved by their story, she decided to help.
The family arrived back in Turkey by air ambulance this week, where Omer briefly spoke to reporters.
"We're so happy," Omer said. "We're back in our country … Our babies are healthy … Thank God."
Their arrival couldn't come at a better time, either. According to reports, the boys are turning 2 on June 21.
