Conjoined Twins

1. Can you imagine spending your entire life attached to your sibling? Once in every 200,000 births, twins are connected at the head, chest, hip, or another part of the body. Conjoined twins occur when a single fertilized egg begins to split into identical twins early pregnancy and then stops splitting before the two eggs are completely separate.
2. 10 to 25% of conjoined twins survive and grow into adults. Although it is hard for other people to imagine, most conjoined twins manage to adapt to their unique situation and carry on normal lives. Just like other brothers and sisters, they have different interests and talents. They attend school, play sports, and even go on to have careers—often different careers!
3. Conjoined twins are occasionally referred to as Siamese twins, since the first siblings to become well known were Eng and Chang Bunker from Siam (now Thailand), who earned their living in the US as a side-show attraction in the P.T. Barnum Circus. People would pay money to see these unusual brothers. Eng and Chang were joined at the chest by a band of flesh and cartilage for their entire lives, and over time, the flesh band did stretch out extensively. Each twin got married and had 22 children between them. They lived for 63 years. Today, they could be easily separated with a minor surgery.
4. Advanced surgical techniques sometimes allow for the separation of conjoined twins, but surgery is risky and can result in the loss of one or both twins, especially when they share vital organs. The decision to attempt a separation must be weighed carefully by the family and medical team.
5. Conjoined twins don’t happen solely in humans. Scientists made an unexpected discovery on January 5, 2014 when they found the body of two conjoined gray whale calves floating off the shore of Baja California. The conjoined whales measured about 7-10" in length. The conjoined twins were probably between 8.5 and 10.5 months of age when they were born, he noted.

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