"Noura and Sarah"... the new birth of Fiji twins after a treatment trip in Saudi Arabia

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Hearts held their breath, and prayers were mixed with feelings of anticipation, before they breathed a sigh of relief with the success of the operation to separate the conjoined twins from Fiji, in a long-awaited moment. Behind the doors of the operating room in Riyadh, the parents of the two girls lived extraordinary hours, waiting for their daughters to open their eyes to a different life, after having lived in one body since birth.

There, where the precision of medicine intersects with the feelings of the parents, the journey of separating the two girls began, who were known to the world as “Jesbeli and Desia,” before they bore two new names chosen by their parents in appreciation of the care and attention they found in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, “Noura and Sarah.”

Changing the two names was not just a passing gesture, but rather an expression of the gratitude of a family that traveled thousands of miles in search of an opportunity that would give their two daughters a different future. The parents asked Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabiah, General Supervisor of the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center and head of the medical and surgical team of the Saudi Program for Conjoined Twins, to suggest two names for the two girls, so they chose “Noura and Sarah” in response to his advice.

The two 13-month-old girls arrived in the Kingdom on July 21, 2026, under the directives of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz, and the Crown Prince and Prime Minister, Prince Mohammed bin Salman, to begin a new phase of medical examinations and diagnostic studies that aimed to determine the nature of the adhesion and the extent of the condition’s complexity, before making the decision to conduct the separation process.

Examinations revealed their adhesion in the abdominal and pelvic regions, with their involvement in a number of vital organs, including the liver, intestines, colon, anus, urinary and reproductive systems, in addition to the pelvic bone. These are details that put the medical team in front of a delicate operation that requires extensive coordination between different specialties and planning for each stage of surgery.

At King Abdullah Specialist Hospital for Children in King Abdulaziz Medical City, affiliated with the Ministry of the National Guard in Riyadh, the medical and surgical team began the separation process, in implementation of the directives of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz, and Crown Prince and Prime Minister Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

The operation was not just a surgical procedure to separate two conjoined bodies, but rather a very complex medical course, the results of which depend on precise details related to the shared organs and the nature of the connection between them. The medical team estimated the expected success rate of the operation at about 70%, based on multidisciplinary evaluation and diagnostic examinations.

With each stage of the process, the parents continued to wait, filled with hope and prayer, anticipating the moment when each child could have an independent space in life, and an opportunity to grow away from the health challenges associated with adhesion.

The case gains additional importance as it is the first separation of conjoined twins from the Republic of Fiji, while it represents the 74th operation within the Saudi program for conjoined twins.

The story of “Noura and Sarah” comes within the framework of a Saudi program that began in 1990, with the aim of receiving cases of conjoined twins from various countries of the world and providing them with specialized medical care, regardless of the children’s nationalities or countries.

For more than 36 years, the program has dealt with multiple cases that differ in the nature of adhesion, shared organs, and associated complications, based on accumulated medical experience and integration between surgical and medical specialties.

With the successful completion of the separation of the Fijian twins, the total number of separation operations conducted by the program has risen to 74, while the care it has provided has extended to about 159 twins from 28 countries spread over five continents.

But the numbers, despite their importance in documenting the program’s progress, do not sum up the story of a family that came from Fiji with great hope for its two daughters, and found in Riyadh an opportunity to begin a new chapter with them.

For Noura and Sarah’s parents, the journey will continue beyond surgery or changing their names. It is a story of a long wait, hope for a more independent future for two girls, and a memory that will remain linked to the place that embraced their hope for a new life.

Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabiah is considered one of the most prominent names associated with operations to separate conjoined twins. During his career, he combined medical and surgical work with leadership positions that contributed to the development of the health and academic sectors in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Al-Rabiah held a number of positions, including Executive Director General of Health Affairs at the Ministry of National Guard. He also contributed to the establishment and management of King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, and chaired the Board of Directors of the General Corporation for King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center.

He served as Minister of Health between 2009 and 2014, before being appointed as an advisor at the Royal Court, in addition to assuming general supervision of the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center since 2015, which added a humanitarian dimension to his career that extended to relief work outside the Kingdom.

In the field of separating conjoined twins, his name was associated with the Saudi Program for Siamese Twins, where he supervised the separation of cases from multiple countries, and participated in performing dozens of complex surgical operations. His contributions were not limited to the practical side, but rather extended to the academic field, by publishing about 105 specialized research and working papers, and writing five books in the field of Siamese twins and pediatric medicine and surgery.

Between operating rooms, leadership positions, and humanitarian work, Al-Rabiah’s experience was formed from integrated paths that combined medical expertise, scientific research, and health administration, placing him at the forefront of the Saudi names associated with the development of surgeries to separate conjoined twins.