Baby Girl Born With 4 Legs Gets New Lease On Life

CHICAGO (CBS) -- A baby girl who was born with four legs and two spines has a new lease on life after receiving a life-saving surgery.

Baby Dominique is from the Ivory Coast in West Africa. She was born with two spines and four legs -- the result of what's called a parasitic twin.

"She had a conjoined twin - this is when the identical twins fail to separate," explained Dr. John Roogh.

Doctors could see Dominique had two additional legs protruding from her neck, a condition that would have eventually become fatal.

"It was as if the twin from the waist down had been attached to the back of Dominique's neck, there was a pelvis, bladder, functional legs that moved, and feet," said Roogh.

Nancy Swabb heard about Dominique's plight on Facebook and welcomed the baby into her home so she could have the surgery

"It was a bond straight away. She was so sweet, she was so ready to accept love, be affectionate, show affection," said Foster mom Swabb.

A medical team at Advocate Children's Hospital in Illinois performed the dangerous and complicated separation surgery on March 8.

"The highest risk was paralysis," said Roogh.

During the six-hour operation, five surgeons removed parts of the parasitic twin and did reconstruction for Dominique.

Doctors say the surgery was a success and expect she'll be able to live a normal, fully functional life.

The foster family says it was an honor to help take care of Dominique.

"There's so much strife in the world. How can you help a neighbor, even if the neighbor is on a different continent? Whatever you can do, we just wanted to open our house, our hearts," said Swabb.

Dominique will head home to West Africa in the next few weeks to be reunited with her family there.

The trip and surgery were arranged by a non-profit that helps children from foreign countries get medical treatment in the United States.