TORONTO – A Kingston, Ont., father and one of his ailing twin daughters are out of surgery after he gave her part of his liver.

Michael Wagner’s three-year-old twins — Phuoc and Binh — have Alagille syndrome, a genetic disorder that affects the liver, heart and other organs, and without a liver transplant the girls would die.

A post on the family Facebook page says Phuoc’s new liver “looks great,” but notes the next few days will be “critical.”

Doctors decided which of the twins would receive the liver transplant after the family said it could not make the heart-wrenching decision — their story often compared to the film “Sophie’s Choice”.

The Facebook page, which is managed by the girls’ mother, Johanne Wagner, says Michael Wagner is groggy, looking good, and joked that someone had stolen a piece of his liver.

The Wagners, who have nine kids, are still waiting for a liver donor for their other daughter.

“I will be a pro at this when Binh gets her turn, hopefully soon,” Johanne Wagner said in the Facebook post.

Gary Levy, who runs the liver donor program at the Toronto General Hospital, said donors can give up to 70 per cent of their liver, which will regrow to its full size, but that a living donor can only donate once.

Johanne Wagner said last week that she hadn’t been tested yet because she needed to be there for the kids if something went wrong with her husband’s surgery.

“She’s our reserve,” Michael Wagner said during a recent interview with The Canadian Press at the family’s home.

“Part of it is that we knew we could only do one parent at a time and that I would have to recover before she went in.”

Levy said that interest in donating a liver has jumped because of the girls’ story and he hopes to find a match for Binh soon.