BEIJING, April. 8 (Xinhuanet) -- Conjoined twin girls who shared a liver and were born with one umbilical cord were separated Tuesday at the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt in Nashville. 

    Keylee Ann and Zoey Marie Miller were born January 4 in Johnson City. They were immediately transferred to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of the hospital. Together, they weighed 4 pounds, 12 ounces.

    The twins were cared for in the NICU for the past three months until they grew strong enough for Tuesday’s separation surgery. The surgery lasted eight hours.

    They are both in critical condition. Parents Victoria Ford and Brian Miller are optimistic about their daughters' prognosis, according to a news release from the hospital.

    (Agencies)