Peru’s ‘Little Mermaid’ legs separated

The separated legs of 13-month-old Peruvian baby girl Milagros Cerron (left) who was born with a rare defect called Mermaid syndrome (right). Pictures / Reuters

LIMA, Peru - Doctors have successfully separated the fused legs of a Peruvian baby girl known as the "Little Mermaid," in a risky operation they hope will help her to walk by her second birthday.

Thirteen-month-old Milagros Cerron was born with a rare defect called Mermaid syndrome, or sirenomelia, which often kills sufferers within a few hours of birth. This is the first of two operations she will have to undergo if she is to walk.

"We have independent movement in her knee articulations, the surgery was a success," Dr. Luis Rubio told reporters who followed the overnight operation at a Lima hospital, adding that the girl was awake.

"We have achieved more than we had planned," Rubio added, referring to the original plan to separate the girl's legs from her heels just up to her knees.

A hospital spokesman told Reuters that doctors had separated her legs to a point some 5 cm to 10 cm above her knees.

Before the operation, Milagros' legs moved separately but were trapped in a sack of tissue and fat down to her heels. Her feet were splayed in a "V," completing the look of a mermaid's tail.

"Our dream is that she will be walking by the time she is two years old," said Rubio, who took on Milagros' case when she was two days old and has treated her in a City Hall-funded hospital.

Milagros, whose name in Spanish means "miracles," will need another operation at the end of the year and several more surgeries by the time she is a teenager.

A 16-year-old American who had surgery to separate her legs when she was a few months old says she believes she is the world's only survivor of Mermaid syndrome. Her doctor, who helped pioneer the procedure, described it as hugely risky.

The surgery on Milagros lasted more than four hours and required an 11-doctor team. Rubio answered reporters' questions, even as the girl lay on the operating table.

"I am joyful, contented," said the girl's mother, Sara Arauco. "I had great faith and my faith is being confirmed."


Milagros has one good kidney and her heart and lungs are fine. Her rudimentary anus, urethra and genitalia are all located together but genital reconstruction will probably wait until adolescence.

"We will follow the girl for at least 10 to 14 years, because we have to resolve the issue of her waist at year's end and after three years we'll see if she controls her sphincter, if not we will have to perform more surgery," Rubio said.

The mayor of Lima is the girl's godfather and the city is covering the costs of her treatment. Local and international press have closely followed her case, and many Peruvians were rooting for Milagros when the surgery began late on Tuesday.

- REUTERS