Can there be siamese twins that share a head?

FunBobby

Yes.... in about 2 per cent of co-joined births a head is shared. It's called craniopagus. see www.twinstuff.com/cojoined.htm Mar 24 02, 5:45 PM

FunBobby

Typo.... sorry www.twinstuff.com/conjoined.htm Mar 24 02, 6:15 PM

Brainy Blonde

Conjoined twins have fascinated me ever since I read a biography of Chang and Eng Bunker, decades ago. I looked at the site Bobby gave, because I had never heard of a pair of conjoined twins with one head. Craniopagus: Cranial union only, about 2% of all conjoined twins. Cephalopagus: Anterior union of the upper half of the body with two faces on opposite sides of a conjoined head. Extremely rare. The heart is sometimes involved. A combination of types 3 and 4 is called epholothoracopagus. See: http://zygote.swarthmore.edu/cleave4a.html All of these definitions mean they are joined at the head, not that they have one head. Joined at the head means two brains, two people. Lori and Dori Schappell (one of U.S.'s oldest surviving non-separated conjoined twins) are one of the best examples of this type of conjoined twins. I have see several documentaries and interviews with them. Even with their condition, they lead separate lives, attended college and have separate jobs. They maintain they would never be separated, even if it were possible, which it is not at their age. However, these days, twins joined at the head are being separated right after birth, before the skull is completely developed. See: http://www.geocities.com/factsaboutmultiples/conjoined.html There is no such thing as conjoined twins with one head. That would mean one brain, one person and the medical condition would have nothing to do with conjoined twins. They would be treated as one person born with multiple limbs. Mar 24 02, 9:49 PM