The little red-haired girl and I are real fans of the cartoon film Madagascar. We’ve watched the first one so often, we know most of the lines by heart. We can still get a laugh out of everyday situations where a line applies.
One of my favourite lines is when the King Julian, voiced by Sacha Baron Cohen, turns to Maurice and says:
Shame on you! Do you not realise you have insulted the freaks?
The other day I repeated the freaks line and then asked her:
You know what the word freak means, eh?
Not really…
It’s not a nice way to talk about someone, and you actually shouldn’t use it because it’s an insult, but it used to be what they called a baby that wasn’t born normal, like if it had two heads or something. They used to have what they called freak shows, where you’d pay money to see people like that.
Have there really been babies born with two heads?
Sure… you know about Siamese twins, right? Doctors try to separate them at birth if they can, but sometimes, it’s impossible. I saw a movie once on the plane about two teenage girls. They were one girl from the shoulders down, but on their shoulders, they had two heads.
Really?
Yeah. They actually lead a normal life. They’re treated like separate people, each has her own personality, they go to school, have friends, play sports, they can drive a car, have hobbies – everything we do. It’s amazing, really. I’ll find you a video of them and show you. I saw it first when I was on a flight to Canada when I went by myself that time, and I couldn’t believe it.
—After watching the video, she asks:
What if they get a boyfriend?
Yeah, what if one falls in love with someone, but the other one doesn’t?
— We left it at that.
The banner photograph shows the town of Britannia Beach, BC, Canada, where I grew up. It's home. But I don't live there anymore.
I had actually never heard of these girls and I thought it was a practical joke until I googled them. Poor kids.What wonderful parents they have and what great courage and decency the whole family and their town exhibit.
They’re real all right, G. Amazing, aren’t they?
that was so unreal.
Incredible. I tried to watch to see if one controlled the right side and the other the left. I guess when twins are that conjoined, it’s I am she, she is me to a huge extent? I mean what if they disagree? What if one wants to hit the other?
What if one of them dies???
So many unanswered questions!
They do share the same body, so I suppose in that regard, what happens to one goes for the other. I really think they should write a book, or have a good biographer portray them. I confess to being a bit fascinated by their life, and a four-minute video clip merely skims the surface
.
I saw a documentary on these girls a few years ago. They are really inspirational. And I don’t use that word lightly either. It takes a lot to inspire me. I found your blog through your comment on my blog – thanks for checking it out! Good post – I’m a mommy too and I am not looking forward to the types of questions that involve conjoined twins and sex. Namely because I don’t have the answers.
Oh and to answer some of the questions raised above based on the documentary I saw: These girls are very adamant about maintaining their individuality personality-wise despite their condition. They are very different (one is outgoing, the other is shy, one is silly, the other serious). They have different interests. They have some interests in common – they actually play baseball. I’m not kidding. It’s amazing. They take separate tests at school and get separate grades. If one of them gets sick, the other can take the medicine for her. I believe they have separate stomachs but obviously share a circulatory system. If one dies, the other would too.
Now that’s a freaky problem!
Wow…absolutely amazing…they look like they are getting the most out of life, despite the numerous challenges and questions, ones brought up here and probably so many more that we haven’t thought of…but still they seem to have a greater appreciation of life than so many of those self-loathing “woe is me” teenagers out there (speaking from experience, haha)…very inspiring stuff!
Hi Romi – that’s what really comes across, doesn’t it? They’re living life instead of moaning about their situation.
Eng and Chang (billed as the original siamese twins) married two sisters and divided their time between them, though they had two sets of genitals so it was an easier solution for them. Perhaps they’ll find one man who loves them both equally…..
@Gwen – luckily the chance of her asking you pointed questions about the sex lives of Siamese twins is pretty low, though for normal questions… if you already have a kid, you should already know the answers!
We’re pretty straightforward with our kid.
@nurse – if they do find that man, here’s another question, though a bit dry compared to the one’s you’re used to.
If they are treated as separate individuals, aren’t there three people getting married in the same union? Since that’s illegal, do they have to go to court to get a special exception granted?
Thank you Ian for your best wishes. Greatly appreciated. Gloria in Hamburg
I think they’d better have a referendum on that one
Then their plans would be doomed, I’m sure.
I saw these twins on German TV not too long ago – a US show dubbed into German. It was a good program in that it answered a lot of those logistical-type questions, questions I could spend hours thinking up. Alas, they had yet to get involved with boys…