A medical team in Peru has successfully completed a second operation on a two-year-old girl born with fused legs which should allow her to walk unaided.
Head doctor Luis Rubio said Milagros Cerron was stable after surgery and there were no complications.
Milagros has "mermaid syndrome" or sirenomelia, a condition which usually kills sufferers within days of birth.
Surgeons separated her legs to above the knees in a June operation and have now finished work on her thighs.
The process will take at least another 10 years to complete, they say.
Milagros is one of only three known survivors of the condition, and her progress has been followed closely throughout Peru.