Identical Twins Diagnosed with Rare Condition Saved with Fetal Intervention Surgery at Jackson Memorial Hospital

By: Krysten Brenlla

A police officer with the Hialeah Gardens Police Department, KiaraLiz Lopez welcomed her first child when she was just 16.

Five years ago, the now 32-year-old’s family grew when she met her husband, Giovany Rodriguez. After experiencing the challenges of raising a child as a teenager, Lopez knew she wanted something different for her future family, and she found that with Rodriguez.

“I always wanted more children,” Lopez said. “But I wanted it to be with the right person.”

When the couple decided they were ready to have a baby, they found it difficult to get pregnant. Then, one day, Lopez got a really bad headache and was nauseous.

“I told myself, ‘Either I’m getting sick or I’m pregnant,’” she said.

She was pregnant – with twins.

At first, the pregnancy felt like a dream come true. But as weeks went by, Lopez’s doctors began noticing complications during ultrasounds.

One baby was significantly smaller than the other, and their heart rates were unstable.

“It was terrifying,” Lopez said. “Every appointment felt heavier than the last.”

As her pregnancy became high-risk, Lopez was referred to Rodrigo Ruano, MD, director of the UHealth Jackson Fetal Care Center and division chief of UHealth Jackson Maternal-Fetal Medicine.

After careful monitoring, Dr. Ruano diagnosed the twins with twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome (TTTS), a rare and potentially life-threatening condition that affects identical twins sharing a placenta.

“When twin babies are diagnosed with TTTS, the blood is unbalanced between the two babies, which is extremely dangerous,” Dr. Ruano said.

“Dr. Ruano sat down with us and explained everything,” Lopez added. “There were so many risks, and all I could think was, ‘I’m going to lose my babies.’”

The condition was progressing fast, and the care team needed to act quickly to save the babies.

Dr. Ruano performed a fetoscopic laser ablation on Lopez at The Women’s Hospital at Jackson Memorial Medical Center. The procedure uses a laser to seal the abnormal placental blood vessels, ultimately stopping the unbalanced blood flow to the babies and increasing their chance of survival in the womb.

“We prayed a lot,” she said. “I was terrified, but I trusted Dr. Ruano and God.”

The procedure was successful.

“KiaraLiz showed incredible strength throughout a very complicated pregnancy,” Dr. Ruano said. “These cases require close monitoring, trust, and a multidisciplinary team. Seeing both babies grow stronger and healthier after fetal surgery is why we do this work.”

Though the surgery was successful, Lopez experienced severe dehydration, constant vomiting, and difficulty breathing throughout the remainder of her pregnancy.

Still, she did everything she could to help her babies as they grew.

“I became super protective,” she said. “I just kept thinking, ‘I’ve made it this far. I can’t lose them now.’”

At 35-and-a-half weeks pregnant — nearly full term for twins — Lopez delivered her sons, Noah and Grayson, via C-section.

The twins spent two-and-a-half weeks in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at Holtz Children’s Hospital. While Lopez knew they were receiving great care, leaving the hospital without them was heartbreaking.

“I cried every single day,” she said. “Driving from Homestead to Jackson was hard, but there was no way I wasn’t going to see my babies.”

During their NICU stay, the twins hit many milestones. By the second day, both babies were breathing on their own.

The NICU team also helped Lopez and her husband relearn newborn care, from feeding and swaddling to recognizing signs of distress.

“They were patient, knowledgeable, and so loving,” Lopez said. “They taught me how to be a mom to babies again.”

After spending a few weeks in the NICU, Noah and Grayson were ready to go home.

Today, they’re thriving, and the family is adjusting to their newest additions.

Through it all, Lopez is grateful to the teams at Jackson who helped save her sons.

“Our nurses called them ‘my little miracles,’” she said. “Without the teams at Jackson, I don’t think my pregnancy would have been successful. If my babies could talk, they would say thank you, too.”