Siamese Twins

Have you ever seen a person.. Or rather, persons? If you have, then this article will delve into how they live their lives, how it ends. Heck, even how they go with the flow. But, let’s remember, everyone is human, they just have the crucial detail of being different, and for these guys, they live with each other in more ways than one.

How often does this happen to people?

     Let’s not forget HOW it happens. A conjoined, maybe better known as “Siamese” twin is when two babies are born together, quite literally by skin and tissue, physically formed. This is because an embryo decides to move early, only partially moving to form two kids, whether identical twins or fraternal.

Conjoined twins will be birthed, at least 50’000-60,000 births each year. It’s a rare phenomenon, about 40-60% are stillborn, dying before they can even understand life from their mothers arms. 35% of conjoined twins die within a day. So, unless they have most of their organs intact and to themselves, they can kiss their mortality goodbye. They have a survival rate of 7.5%, so yeah, not much luck.

The Evelyn Sisters

     Although they are a fictional duo, they make a popular representation of how it feels to be a Siamese twin and how living together sometimes is too much, thinking that maybe one day, you can be away from your sibling forever. They used to live on a small farm, near the Kansas-Colorado border. They both perform in some kind of weird Siamese twin drag. ”Drag” is when a man is dressed as a woman. It may be ableism, hitting hard with the “overcoming disability” trope, but the musical goes over tough, terrible subjects, so there wasn’t much to do about it. It was like a lead balloon, full and ready to burst into shards over the crowd.

What is there to do about them?

     As the first trimester of pregnancy acknowledges their existence, they’re set for a winding, twisted road. IF they survive birth, we have to make sure that the twins’ connection extent isn’t too bad. Using an MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging), they see where they’re connected, and what/which organs they share.

     It depends on their circumstances that the treatment varies. Conjoined-ness, what organs or other vital structures are shared, and other... This puts their mother in constant monitorization; close watching to make sure it doesn’t cause high risk problems, in which most cases it does. After that, a C-section is performed. An even higher risk for the mother. There are many different versions of Siamese twins:

The chest, Thoracopagus. They’re joined face to face, at their chest. They may share a heart, liver, or small intestine.

The abdomen, Omphalopagus. They're joined near the belly button. They may share the liver, some lower bit of the small intestine, and colon.

Base of the spine, Pygopagus. This is where they’re joined at the back, the base of the spine and buttocks. Some share the lower gastrointestinal tract, and others share the urinary organs and genitals.

Length of spine, Rachipagus. Quite literally back to back, they’re joined at the spine, the whole length up and down. This type of conformity is quite rare.

Pelvis, Ischiopagus. Joined at the pelvis, either face to face, or end to end. Many of these twins share the gastrointestinal tract, as the liver and urinary organs too. Some may have two legs, or even three.

Trunk, Parapagus. Joined side to side at the pelvis, or most of the abdomen and chest. Up on their shoulders rests two heads. They can also have two, three, or four arms, as well as two or three legs.

Head, Craniopagus. Joined at the back, the top or side of the head, but not the face. They share a portion of their skulls. Their brains are separate, but they may share brain tissue.

Head AND chest, Cephalopagus. Joined at the face and upper body. Their faces lay on opposite sides. They share the same brain. And these twins, barely survive.

How many tickets do they buy?

     This has been a joking but intriguing question. Yes there’s two people, but do they buy one separately, or do they buy one for the two of them? As they’d only take up one seat, only one ticket has to be bought. Same goes for airlines, even if they do in fact have two passports. And, another plus, is they get two paychecks instead of one! Double paycheck for the price of one!

What do they do for a living?

     Well, they’d live just normally! In fact, some stuff are doubled in their lifespan. They can do well, much more than a socially regular person. One can be teaching, another can be listening and answering questions. Their clothes are normal, as they only need possibly bigger or smaller shirts, depending on them. Sure, it’s not easy in the beginning, but if they’re healthy and well, especially with each other, then that’s all that needs to be known!

     Well, as you should know, Siamese twins will always be people two. All jokes aside again, they’re amazing people who happen to have a birth defect, and there’s nothing wrong with that. It’s what makes them unique, a difference from the world that others should congratulate. They’ve gotten an extremely tough life from birth, up to being an adult, cut them some slack.