Girl Undergoes Liver Transplant Months After Twin Sister Gets Transplant From Dad

Binh and Phouc Wagner both needed liver transplants to survive.

ByABC News
April 21, 2015, 4:16 PM

— -- A 3-year-old girl is recovering from a life-saving liver transplant thanks to an anonymous donor just two months after her twin sister underwent the same operation.

Binh Wagner underwent the lengthy surgery sometime in the last month, according to officials for the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto.

"There are not enough words to thank the amazing and so unselfish donor," Binh's mother, Johanne Wagner, said on the family's Facebook page.

"Binh is recovering well, at her own pace," Wagner wrote, saying that Binh had more complications than her twin sister. "We are looking forward to all being reunited and leading a healthier life now, with both transplants finally behind us."

The operation took place after an anonymous donor donated a portion of their liver to the toddler. Both Binh and her twin sister Phouc needed liver transplants due to a genetic condition called Alagille syndrome, which can affect the bile ducts in the liver.

Phouc underwent the same surgery earlier this year, with the girl's father Michael Wagner as the donor.

PHOTO: Binh Wanger received a life-saving liver transplant months after her twin sister had the same operation.
Binh Wanger received a life-saving liver transplant months after her twin sister had the same operation.

Due to the nature of the liver, Wagner could only donate to one daughter. In an effort to find another donor, the family turned to social media and the press to search for a living donor.

“We found ourselves to be very lucky that we qualified right away,” Johanne Wager previously said of her husband being a match, even though the twins are adopted and not his biological daughters. “[We’re] relieved but we need one more donor.”

After the family made their story public, Johanne Wagner said they received hundreds of messages from people who pledged to apply to be a donor.

The family has been in and out of hospitals and doctors' offices since the girls were first adopted from Vietnam in 2012. Johanne Wagner has been documenting the twins' struggle on Facebook and her website, showing the smiling girls as they deal with doctors and nurses.

“We knew they were very ill,” Johanne Wagner said of the twins when they were first adopted. “Those girls knocked on our doors and they were supposed to be with us, and it just took a different path. As soon as we heard about them, we knew they were part of our family.”

PHOTO: Binh Wanger received a life-saving liver transplant months after her twin sister had the same operation.
Binh Wanger received a life-saving liver transplant months after her twin sister had the same operation.

Both girls and their father continue to recover from their operations. Binh is still recovering at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, according to the family's Facebook page.

Phuoc was able to return home last month.