TLC (The Learning Channel) will air an hourlong documentary starting at 10 p.m. Sunday on Teresa and Maria Tapia, the toddlers who lived the first 19 months of their lives conjoined before being surgically separated in November by doctors at Children's Hospital of Richmond at VCU.
Monica Lange is producer and director of the special that began as a broader piece on conjoined twins and looked at other cases.
"It became clear very early on that this was going to be more than could fill an hour," said Lange, of Figure 8 Films.
"There were so many chapters. The girls are absolutely captivating," she said.
Lange and two photojournalists starting filming the girls, who are from the Dominican Republic, about 10 days before their surgery and followed them through their trip home in December.
Lisandra Sanatis, the twins' mother, and Sanatis' sister came to the United States in late October. World Pediatric Project, a Richmond-based medical philanthropy, arranged for the girls to have the surgery.
The family stayed at Hospital Hospitality House, and some of their living expenses were covered by the South Richmond Rotary.
"It will be extremely emotional for all involved in the case to watch the twins' story from beginning to end," said Jennifer Curtis, spokesman for World Pediatric Project.
"We are hopeful the documentary will move more people to help us … the more support we have, the more children we can help. There are so many more children like Maria and Teresa without access to pediatric critical care," she said.
The film has scenes from the surgery, with an advisory about the graphic nature of some of the footage.
Lange said the girls were treated like celebrities when they arrived home, greeted by the first lady of the Dominican Republic and escorted by motorcade.
The film crew also captured the reunion with the twins' family, including their father, brothers and grandparents.
"It was a very tearful and emotional reunion," Lange said. The reaction from the twins' 19-year-old brother was particularly poignant, she said.
"Of all the family members, he was most affected. He just cried. He was just so overcome," Lange said.
The documentary is titled "Conjoined Twins: Separation Anxiety."
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