There are a lot of physiological characteristics that are embodied in conjoined twins that cannot be found in separated twins or people born without a twin. First, a conjoined twin is when two infants come out of the womb connected to one another. It is actually determined very early whether twins will be conjoined, as it only takes the embryo to not separate fully and remain connected. Oftentimes, the embryo in conjoined twins remains together at the chest area, pelvis area, or abdomen area. Moreover, conjoined twins may share organs because they are connected chest to chest. Unfortunately, most conjoined twins end up dying when they are still in their mother’s womb, and the majority of conjoined twins that are born die after birth, rather shortly. Conjoined twins who survive birth can be separated through surgical means if the parents decide that is the best option.
Now known for his political run in the 2016 Republican Primary, Ben Carson actually should be most recognized for amazing work as a surgeon. He was regarded as one of the most brilliant doctors in his field, as performed several surgeries to separate conjoined twins. While most surgeons would pass on this surgery, which usually takes 15 to 20 hours, Carson was seen as the pioneer of it, and he had been working on his craft well before he had to perform on real conjoined twins. He has performed numerous surgeries, but the one he did on German conjoined twins all the way back in the year 1987 gained him national recognition. However, his story is not all a box of chocolates, as nearly all of the twins he did surgeries on went on to live different lives. Still, they would have been worse off, most likely dead, if Carson had not performed the surgeries. While Carson has been accused of over embellishing his surgical stories, that is what seems to happen when one becomes a political figure.
Conjoined twins used to be called Siamese twins, and they can either be symmetrical or nonsymmetrical. With symmetrical conjoined twins, there are no anomalies besides the area that is shared between the two twins. With nonsymmetrical conjoined twins, usually what happens is one of the twins ends up developed but the other ends up underdeveloped. Oftentimes, one will see a disproportionate size between one twin and the other if they are nonsymmetrical. At birth, unsymmetrical conjoined twins may be separated in order to save the life of the developed twin. Conjoined twins are given five different classifications, each based on which part of the body between the twins is joined together or fused.
Conjoined twins are considered to have an extremely rare probability of happening. It is estimated that conjoined twins are born in 1 out of 200,000 births, and most of these twins who are born fused together end up dying before they are out of the womb, or shortly after they are out of the womb. As stated above, there is an extremely hard choice that parents need to make when they have conjoined twins. Should they separate them or keep them fused together? Should they sacrifice the life of one to save the other? And should they try to separate them anyways since society will look down on them if they end up surviving as conjoined? There are many ethical questions that arise out of this, and usually it is left up to the parents as to what should be done. If they go the surgical route, the treatment or surgery is extremely extensive and complicated.
Separation surgery is actually not done right after the birth but a couple months after; there are emergency separations, but these separations are considered to be rare. Of course, the surgical methods vary, and most cases are considered to be unique. This is why the surgery is regarded as one of the hardest in the industry, as any number of mock surgeries done for practice will not eliminate the need to adapt the surgery to fit the case. Sometimes, conjoined twins are kept together at the urging of the parents. This may create societal issues for the twins and they may have a tough time fitting into society and gaining respect from peers, especially at a childhood and adolescent level.
The entire concept of conjoined twins and their treatment is unique to me, as I believe that ethical principles hold a lot of the sway when it comes to choosing how to treat conjoined twins. If I were a parent who gave birth to conjoined twins, I do not know what I’d do. I don’t know if I’d sacrifice the life of one to make the other’s life a bit more normal. I think that I’d seek a lot of outside input from friends and family, and maybe some professionals.
In my opinion, the tour was very interesting and I learned a lot about Embryology and the role that it plays in modern day society. I thought that the tour would not be fun and that it would be uninteresting, but I was wrong in thinking this, as I found a lot of cases and information that was applicable to the world we live in. it really got me thinking about the future of the medical profession and how it will change as technology becomes better and allows humans to do things that we do not think are possible right now.
