Outlook good as formerly conjoined twins leave NY hospital

VALHALLA, NEW YORK: Formerly conjoined twins from the Dominican Republic have left a New York hospital two months after surgery to separate them.

Ballenie and Bellanie Camacho were released Friday from Maria Fareri Children's Hospital in Valhalla, north of New York City.

The girls were joined at the base of the spine when they were born February 4, 2016. They shared a key artery that supplies blood to the pelvic region as well as neurologic and gastrointestinal connections.

Hospital officials say the twins' 21-hour surgery January 17 and January 18 was successful and both children should enjoy full lives. Dr. Whitney McBride says the girls' progress is "nothing short of remarkable."

The twins will receive physical therapy as outpatients before returning to the Dominican Republic with their parents, Abel Camacho and Laurilin Celadilla.