Health to determine where separated twins live

THE Australian guardians of separated twins Krishna and Trishna say it is uncertain whether the pair will stay in Melbourne to live or return to Bangaladesh.

THE Australian guardians of separated twins Krishna and Trishna say it is uncertain whether the pair will stay in Melbourne to live or return to Bangaladesh.

The three-year-old girls were last night still in intensive care - and in separate beds for the first time in their lives - after undergoing historic marathon 32-hour surgery to separate them just two days ago.

Doctors at Melbourne's Royal Children's Hospital yesterday ran tests on the girls, including an MRI scan, to determine any brain damage and when they would start to bring them out of their induced coma.

Guardian Atom Rahman said he was hopeful they would be woken soon and the sisters would be able to see each other for the first time.

"That will be the most wonderful moment for them and for everyone involved," he said. "It will be an incredible moment to see their reaction in their eyes. I have goosebumps just thinking about it."

Mr Rahman, along with Moira Kelly from the Australian charity Children First, are the girls' overseas legal guardians. The sisters at the orphanage where the twins were discovered are the girls' guardians in their home country.

Mr Rahman told The Australian yesterday they were taking the girls' recovery one day at a time and it was too early to say whether they would stay in the country long-term.

"There are three dimensions to the question on whether they will stay here," Mr Rahman said yesterday. "One is what the guardians (in Bangladesh) feel about the issue, the type of medical care that is required and the legal implications of possible immigration."

He said it was futile to speculate on their future until their medical prognosis was known. "Everything will depend on their medical condition; that's when we can make the decision," Mr Rahman said.

Ms Kelly said yesterday she was thrilled with the separation of the twins and thanked the "hero" doctors that separated the girls' brains.

"You wouldn't believe it; there were two cots and I stood in the middle," she said of seeing the girls for the first time. "I'm in the middle of these girls and I haven't done it before. It's just amazing . . . I can't comprehend it. It's like The Twilight Zone. I keep thinking they're someone else's babies and they have my twins in another room in the ICU."

Ms Kelly said the twins were not awake yet but they were going well.

"And we should be proud to be Australian for what we have accomplished."

Royal Children's Hospital chief surgeon Leo Donnan said yesterday there was no evidence the girls had suffered any brain damage. "Ultimately the test is as these girls wake up and we see how well they actually function and interact with the people they know."