Chilean doctors successfully separated on Tuesday 10-month-old conjoined twins Maria Paz and Maria Jose, who were linked at the thorax, stomach and pelvis.

The twins have been successfully separated after an 18-hour marathon surgery at Luis Calvo Mackenna Hospital in Chile.

The separation was the seventh and most complex operation yet for the twins, whose parents, Jessica Navarrete and Roberto Paredes, were anxiously praying for "a miracle from God" through the high-risk operation that started Tuesday morning.

Updates on the operation were made available to the public, and Chileans followed and cheered on the success that was seen on television and the Internet.

The Chilean twins presented a particularly difficult challenge because they were born sharing many of the same internal organs and even urinary system, reported the New Zealand Herald.

The twins lost a lot of blood during the operation, but are now in stable condition. They are resting in the hospital's intensive care unit, chief surgeon Francisco Ossandon told Daily Mail (UK).

Dr. Ossandon, however, did not rule out future complications involving the effects from anaesthesia and possible infections.

According to the University of Maryland Medical Center, one out of every 200,000 live births worldwide results in conjoined twins. About 35 per cent survive only one day, while the overall survival rate is from five per cent to 25 per cent, reported the Daily Mail.