Conjoined Twins Recovering After Going Through First Part of Separation Surgery

The conjoined twins Conner and Carter Mirabal survived the first part of their operation on Friday at Florida's Wolfson Childrens Hospital, Fox News reported.

The operation, which lasted for more than three hours, was conducted to separate the boys' small intestine, which they shared.

The second part of the surgery will be carried out after about six months after the twins have fully recovered. In this final procedure, doctors will attempt to separate the boys' attached livers.

Conner and Carter were born in December of last year. Months before they arrived, doctors told their mother, Michelle Brantly, that they are conjoined twins who are connected at the stomach.

After learning about the babies' condition, Jasmine Mirabal, the twins' aunt and sister of the father Bryan Mirabal, said their family was shocked.

"I don't think it set in right away," she told News4jax. "A lot of us were in denial, you know, even though it was there, it was happening."

"We kind of pushed ourselves away from it," Mirabal added. "At the same time, we couldn't do that because it was happening and we had to deal with it in the best way we could."

She then said that the parents of the twins were not planning on expanding their family, since the mother recently gave birth to their firstborn son 13 months ago.

"It wasn't a plan to get pregnant, her birth control failed," Jasmine told the news agency. "But it wasn't a mistake. It was meant to happen one way or another."

"And we are beyond grateful that it did happen because they are just so precious," she added. "Their love is part of what gets us through."

Jasmine Mirabal noted that although the family is worried about the twins' two operations, they know the surgeries are needed to provide the babies a healthy life.

"It's all worth it; it's going to be worth it in the end," she told News4jax. "We hope they're separated successfully and we get them out of this hospital. Get them home, you know?"

"They're our miracle babies," she added. "They really are. We weren't promised their lives. God gave them to us."