Conjoined twins are twins who are connected through skin, organs or other parts of the body. They are often incorrectly referred to as “Siamese” twins. Separation success rates vary depending on the type of conjunction, with some being impossible to separate. In some cases, one twin may be healthy while the other is a parasite, and separation is necessary to protect the healthy child. Separation attempts appear to be most successful in Saudi Arabia.
Conjoined twins are twins, almost always identical, who are connected through skin, organs or other parts of the body. They are often incorrectly referred to as “conjoined” twins, possibly due in part to Chang and Eng Bunker, Siam-born twins who traveled with PT Barnum’s Circus during the 19th century. The term is imprecise as conjunction occurs worldwide at a rate of approximately 1 in 400,000 live births.
In most cases, on day 13 after pregnancy begins, twins separate into their own egg sacs, and each twin creates a placenta. When conjoined twins occur, this separation has not taken place and researchers do not know the cause. They suggest that contributing factors may be environmental or genetic. The classification of such twins is based on how they are joined, and this union shows a great deal of variation.
The survival and ability to separate twins depends on the type of conjunction. While some may do very well after separation, in other cases, dividing them may be impossible or it may mean the loss of the life of one of the twins. If children share vital organs, separation is much more difficult, as the organs tend not to be divided. This is also the case for twins joined at the spine, as surgery can often cause paralysis or death.
In some cases, conjoined twins have one healthy twin and one very unhealthy twin, called a parasite. In these cases, separation is necessary to protect the healthy child. It is often tragic and difficult for parents to make such decisions, since accepting separation surgery is essentially agreeing to allow a child to die. On the other hand, choosing not to separate parasitic twins usually means that both twins will die.
When conjoined twins can’t be separated, they are often able to get by living a very different lifestyle. Difficulties occur when twins share the same reproductive system or excretory tracts. Others suffer from postural difficulties if they are joined to the head. Life expectancy for twins who can’t be separated frequently depends on how many organs are shared. If the heart, lungs, liver or kidneys are shared, providing work for two bodies can be very difficult. In some cases, the conjunction is almost always fatal during the first few days of life.
Twins who share a heart have a low survival rate. Those who share a heart and a brain tend to be considered non-vital. In other cases, called inclusion twinning, a twin absorbs the body of a dying sibling while still in utero. Sometimes, the surviving twin has to undergo surgery to remove skeletal parts of each other’s bodies.
Literature and cinema have always been fascinated by Siamese twins. Mark Twain wrote a novel and several short stories about them, and they were often exhibited as “monsters” in circus shows. The film Stuck on You, starring Matt Damon and Greg Kinnear, was a humorous yet insightful portrayal of this condition.
Separation attempts appear to be most successful in Saudi Arabia, where nine separations have been performed over the past 15 years with a 100% survival rate. Usually, medical professionals will not undertake the separation without the possibility that at least one of the children will survive the surgery. Sometimes the courts have intervened, as in England, where a judge ordered the separation of two children despite strong parental objection. The twins were parasites and the weaker twin died. It is hoped that, with greater understanding and perhaps better fetal surgery techniques, separation survival rates may increase, giving conjoined twins the same chance as other babies at living healthy, productive lives.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
