Yelena Faynegold has a chance at a healthy new life, thanks to a kidney transplanted from her identical twin sister and a liberalized Soviet emigration policy.
Faynegold and her married sister, Dina Vaisberg, were discharged last week from a local hospital after the successful operation, following a case history of bungled Soviet medical efforts.
According to Faynegold’s story, told in Russian, doctors in her hometown of Odessa failed to diagnose her kidney disease. It was only when she wrote about her symptoms in a letter to her sister in Los Angeles that an American doctor, who read the letter, pinpointed the problem.
Faynegold then applied for emigration to join Vaisberg, who had come to America nine years earlier. After a year’s wait, Faynegold was given permission to leave.
Her relatives here credit Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev’s policies for the relatively quick granting of an exit visa. She joined her sister at her West Hollywood home five months ago.
The operation at St. Vincent Medical Center was performed, oddly enough, by identical twins, Drs. Rafael and Robert Mendez, who said that Faynegold’s outlook for a normal life is excellent. The two sisters are 34 years old.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
