Three different countries asked for US$1 million upfront before they would surgically separate rare conjoined twins born in Fiji.
The 10-month-old girls - Di Cecea and Jesipeli Kikau - were born prematurely in a set of triplets at the Colonial War Memorial (CWM) Hospital in the capital, Suva.
"The doctors said this is the first case of conjoined twins in Fiji in 20 years," their mother Akenata Vulimaiigiladi said in a video shared by Fiji's Health Ministry.
"When they were born two months premature the doctors said they might only survive for a few days. We are grateful to the nurses, doctors and medical staff here at the hospital for their service," she said.
A team of paediatric doctors at CWM spent eight months seeking help from multiple other countries, including neighbours Australia and New Zealand.
"We approached Mexico, the United Kingdom and the United States, but they wanted US$1 million upfront to perform the surgery," one of the team in Suva who looked after the twins, Dr Ilisapeci Tuibeqa, told RNZ Pacific.
She said several countries they approached were only interested in performing the surgery for research purposes.
"We asked Australia if they would offer the family humanitarian support, after (the Sydney Children's Hospital) agreed to operate on the conjoined twin boys from Papua New Guinea. But we were told it was not possible."
"The initial surgical team had asked New Zealand if it would consider performing the surgery but doctors said that they were not able to assist us with that," Dr Tuibeqa said.
"I think they made the decision knowing the complexity of the surgery and the need for a multi-disciplinary team to do the operation."
The Saudi Arabia government has fully funded their entire trip, covering airfares and accommodation for the triplets and their parents.
However, the Saudi Arabian government offered to perform the surgery for free on humanitarian grounds, while also paying for the family's airfares and accommodation.
The family flew out of Nadi International Airport on Wednesday night bound for Hong Kong, Doha, the capital of Qatar, then onto Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia.
Fiji's government has paid for a paediatric registrar to accompany the family on the trip and liaise with doctors at the King Salman Hospital in Riyadh, who are performing the surgery.
Dr Tuibeqa said the hospital in Riyadh would review the case again before fixing a date for the operation.
"We've shared imaging and medical reports with them from when they twins were about two or three months old," she explained.
The twins - fused below the sternum - spent the first two months of their lives with their sister, Hossana, at CWM Hospital's neo-natal care unit.
Dr Tuibeqa said she was "exhausted" but "overjoyed" that the Saudi Arabian government offered to perform the surgery on humanitarian grounds.
The outlook for the twins was positive, given they did not share vital organs, she said.
"They're joined below the sternum, so below the chest diaphragm, they're joined just below that down to the pelvis. They have their own heart and they have their own lungs," Dr Tuibeqa said.
