Doctors Separate Fused Legs of Baby Girl With Mermaid Syndrome

Milagros Cerron was born just over a year ago in Peru with a very rare birth defect where her legs were fused from her thighs to her ankles. The affliction, known as sirenomelia, or "mermaid syndrome," occurs in one out of every 70,000 births. There are only three known cases of children with the condition alive in the world today. Surgeons had to wait until Milagros was at least a year old before attempting to separate her legs, and they originally planned to repair the defect only up to her knees because a major artery connected both of her legs. But about 30 minutes into the surgery came the announcement from Dr. Luis Rubio, the surgeon leading the medical team, that they had "overcome the first difficulty." Preliminary studies indicating that it would not be necessary to perform a bypass of the artery had panned out. "We are cutting, and the irrigation is perfect on both sides," he said.

Rubio led a team of 11 specialists including plastic surgeons, pediatricians, and heart specialists. The surgery was performed at night because the doctors wanted to operate when the Solidarity Hospital, a public facility that serves more than 1500 people a day, would be at its quietest. The surgery took almost five hours, and the medical team was thrilled that they were able to exceed their original goal and separate the girl’s legs entirely with no complications. Milagros, the angelic little girl whose name means "miracles," is 13 months old, and is only about the size and weight of a normal 6-month old. Before the operation, she suffered frequent urinary tract infections because of her deformity. She was born with a deformed left kidney and a very small right one located very low in her body. But her psycho-mental development is extraordinarily well developed, and she communicates well with her surroundings. According to Rubio, "She babbles words that correspond to her age," and her intellectual development has been remarkably normal. Just hours before the surgery, she giggled and played on her hospital bed, trying to grab at a laser light pen Rubio used to examine her legs while the team of surgeons looked on. Milagros’ legs were connected by the same sheath of skin, and over the last three months doctors had inserted saline bags to stretch the skin so it would be able to cover her legs individually after they were cut apart.

Milagros’ parents watched the graphic video of their daughter’s surgery while it took place. Her mother, 20-year old Sara Arauco, when asked about the difficulty of watching the surgeons perform, said she could handle it. "I am strong. I am young." Her father, Ricardo Cerron, 24, burst into tears as Rubio made the first incision at the start of the surgery, and her mother put her hand to her mouth. But as the surgery progressed and it was clear that it was going to be a success, Arauco said her prayers had been answered. "Yes, this is a miracle," she told The Associated Press. "I know, even though I am a sinner, God has paid attention to me, maybe not for my sake, but for my daughter's." At the conclusion of the surgery, Dr. Rubio triumphantly held up the little girl’s legs in a V shape for photographers, displaying a line of stitches extending from her heels to her inner thighs. "This surgical intervention has been a true success," he announced. "We have mobility of the independent knee joints." Although this extraordinary surgery was an overwhelming accomplishment, Rubio said that Milagros may need up to 15 years of corrective surgeries to reconstruct and repair her internal organs.