'Miracle' Minneapolis Twins Beat Rare Disease

Twins survive rare condition in which one baby takes blood from the other.

ByABC News via logo
October 25, 2008, 3:03 PM

Oct. 26, 2008 — -- Cradling their newborn twins, new parents Jeana and Jeff Cassellius admitted they still were unable to tell Owen and Gavin apart. But for the Casselliuses, figuring out each son's traits has an even deeper feeling, because the boys almost died in the womb.

Doctors diagnosed Owen and Gavin with twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome before they were born. The condition is when one baby takes too much of the blood supply and, in most cases without any therapy, at least one child is lost.

But thanks to an experimental surgery involving tiny cameras and lasers, physicians at Abbott Northwestern and Children's Hospital in Minneapolis were able to save the twins, who were born Wednesday.

The life-saving procedure lasted 90 minutes and took place in July, said pediatric surgeon Brad Feltis.

In the operation doctors cauterized the shared blood vessels between the babies. And even the doctors were anxious about undertaking the surgery.

"Nerves are certainly at a premium at that point," said perinatologist Dr. William Block on "Good Morning America Weekend Edition" today. "I think we're always cognizant of the risk."

Part of what can be nerve-wracking for physicians and parents is the amount of time it takes to determine if the procedure is successful for the rare condition. Even with the procedure, officials said the chance of both boys surviving was around just 40 percent.

"We don't know what the outcome is going to be for several weeks," Feltis told "Good Morning America Weekend Edition" today.

For Jeff Cassellius, "just waiting" was the most difficult part.

"We wanted to stay positive," he said. "We had all the confidence in the doctors."

The Casselliuses said at no point did they give up on their children and that they always believed both would come out healthy. They did.

"There was a lot of emotion to see them for the first time," Jeana Cassellius said. "It was unbelievable when they first cried."

Those cries now have given Jeff Cassellius one way to differentiate his sons.

"Gavin just likes to be a little louder," he said.

ABC News' Minneapolis/St. Paul affiliate KSTP contributed to this report.