TWINS who were born joined at the chest and abdomen have made thier first public appearance since surgery to separate them.

Their mother, Maria Arias, said: "I feel very happy and very content, because my girls were born anew."

Dr Gary Hartman, who led the surgery at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford University in the US, said the girls would probablyy face few complications when they return home to Costa Rica, where they were born joined at the chest and abdomen.

The twins Yurelia and Fiorella Rocha-Arias were also connected at the right atria of their hearts, the chamber that receives *la*hd from the rest of the body, and they shared a liver and some *la*hd.

"The girls are doing well. They have healed.

"They have had all of the procedures that we think they're going to need to have," Dr Hartman said.

After being separated from her sister, Yurelia required complex heart surgery to correct deformities that made her turn blue when excited or upset while still conjoined.