One-year-old twins, conjoined at the abdomen, have been separated at a hospital here, hospital authorities said on Wednesday.

Love and Prince were born with a common liver, intestine and urinary bladder in November 2016. According to the hospital, the separation surgery went on for 12 hours and a team of 20 doctors planned and performed the entire procedure. "At around 24 weeks of pregnancy, Seetal Zalte's (mother of the conjoined twins) conception of conjoined twins was diagnosed," said Minnie Bodhanwala, CEO of the Bai Jerbai Wadia Hospital. "The medical staff at the hospital ensured the parents were counselled about the twins' condition before delivery and a decision to deliver was taken."

After various sessions and extensive investigations during the last one year, the surgery was performed on Tuesday (December 12) and was successful. Love and Prince underwent this complicated surgery at this tender age and are currently stable in the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit, said Bodhanwala. He said that the twins will be under observation for a few days which will be followed by multiple surgeries to ensure they are healthy and fit to survive. "The most challenging part of the surgery was to provide skin to cover both the children," said Bodhanwala. The success story of the surgery was announced during a press conference held here at the Wadia Hospital. Expressing happiness over the success of the surgery, Zalte said: "I am happy that I have got both of my babies back. I have no words to thank the doctor."