# And now, a baby with two faces **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 9, 2008, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-a-baby-with-two-faces/444654 "2008-04-09T19:55:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2008, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-a-baby-with-two-faces/444654/21 "2008-04-10T14:08:11Z")
[QUOTE=Oslo Ostragoth] You people. Tsk. I’m reallllllllllly regretting clicking on the links. [/QUOTE] I’m certainly not going to, tho I have the utmost compassion for someone(s) in her (their) condition… ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2008, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-a-baby-with-two-faces/444654/22 "2008-04-10T14:36:58Z")
Two [del]heads[/del] faces are better than one. 🙂 Can I still get a spot by the bar? ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2008, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-a-baby-with-two-faces/444654/23 "2008-04-10T14:59:59Z")
A face that launched two thousand ships! ---
**Author:** ![Subway\_Prophet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecb155/32.png) [@Subway\_Prophet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Subway_Prophet)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2008, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-a-baby-with-two-faces/444654/24 "2008-04-10T16:26:42Z")
**Very** cute kid. (I mean, aside from the doubling of facial features. But that’s more in the “really odd” category, which doesn’t necessarily obviate cuteness.) This just gets weirder and weirder. According to [wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craniofacial_duplication), this condition is caused by a protein called [Sonic hedgehog homolog](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonic_hedgehog). I suppose the fact that the protein is named after a video game character indicates how recently it was identified. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2008, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-a-baby-with-two-faces/444654/25 "2008-04-10T16:42:48Z")
The possibilities really are endless. If one mouth is eating vanilla ice cream and the other is eating hot fudge, will she have the experience of eating a sundae? If you put pepper under one nose, will the other sneeze? How many voice boxes does she have? ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2008, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-a-baby-with-two-faces/444654/26 "2008-04-10T17:00:18Z")
Her first name: Janice! ---
**Author:** ![Flander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8c91f0/32.png) [@Flander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flander)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2008, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-a-baby-with-two-faces/444654/27 "2008-04-10T17:01:14Z")
[QUOTE=tdn] How many voice boxes does she have? [/QUOTE] I’m pretty sure it’s just one voice box. Since the condition is not a result of twinning, and the larynx is located below the scull, she should be ok. I hope she has independent use of her faces though. That would be cool. How’s that song go. “..standing cheek to cheek”? ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2008, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-a-baby-with-two-faces/444654/28 "2008-04-10T17:03:20Z")
[QUOTE=Flander] I’m pretty sure it’s just one voice box. Since the condition is not a result of twinning, and the larynx is located below the scull, she should be ok. I hope she has independent use of her faces though. That would be cool. [/QUOTE] So she can speak with only one voice, but can say two different things at once? That would be really cool at parties. ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2008, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-a-baby-with-two-faces/444654/29 "2008-04-10T17:22:24Z")
[QUOTE=Flander] You all are horrible! When she grows up, she’s going to hunt down everyone person who’s ever made fun of her and video tape their brutal torture and demise and send it to the world as a morbid documentary. She’ll call it Faces of Death. 🙂🙂 [/QUOTE] She seems like the type that would take the advice to turn the other cheek. Then the other one, then the other one. How did I get put in coach? Who do I see about an upgrade? ---
**Author:** ![Flander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8c91f0/32.png) [@Flander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flander)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2008, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-a-baby-with-two-faces/444654/30 "2008-04-10T17:25:40Z")
[QUOTE=tdn] So she can speak with only one voice, but can say two different things at once? [/QUOTE] Well, she _IS_ female. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2008, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-a-baby-with-two-faces/444654/31 "2008-04-10T17:26:30Z")
[QUOTE=Subway Prophet] **Very** cute kid. (I mean, aside from the doubling of facial features. But that’s more in the “really odd” category, which doesn’t necessarily obviate cuteness.) [/QUOTE] She really is. If I can convince myself that it’s a double exposed picture or something, with a baby who turned her head quickly, then she’s quite cute. And, from the video, quiet and content and quite sweet. I understand why her family doesn’t want medical testing, but at the same time, it doesn’t bode well for her future survival. Wiki makes mention of one case of this disorder in a pig who grew to adulthood but died of pneumonia from inhaling food as one snout ate while the other breathed. Some cases of this have two trachea and/or esophagi, and some don’t. So it’s entirely possible that her duplication goes down below the jawline and could be dangerous - but they won’t know that without a CAT scan or x-ray. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2008, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-a-baby-with-two-faces/444654/32 "2008-04-10T17:29:23Z")
[QUOTE=Flander] Well, she _IS_ female. 😉 [/QUOTE] True, true. And for that matter, the conjoined teens have two brains. How long do you think they will be able to remember some past slight? ---
**Author:** ![Martha\_Medea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/43a26b/32.png) [@Martha\_Medea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martha_Medea)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2008, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-a-baby-with-two-faces/444654/33 "2008-04-10T17:47:33Z")
[QUOTE=Ludovic] Her first name: Janice! [/QUOTE] Beat me to it… …by a nose. ---
**Author:** ![GESancMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gesancman/32/2923_2.png) [@GESancMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GESancMan)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2008, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-a-baby-with-two-faces/444654/34 "2008-04-11T07:54:05Z")
[QUOTE=tdn] So she can speak with only one voice, but can say two different things at once? That would be really cool at parties. [/QUOTE] Or… would she be able to give a blow job and carry on a conversation at the same time? ---
**Author:** ![Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleanor_of_Aquitaine)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2008, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-a-baby-with-two-faces/444654/35 "2008-04-11T14:14:55Z")
[QUOTE=WhyNot] I understand why her family doesn’t want medical testing, but at the same time, it doesn’t bode well for her future survival. Wiki makes mention of one case of this disorder in a pig who grew to adulthood but died of pneumonia from inhaling food as one snout ate while the other breathed. Some cases of this have two trachea and/or esophagi, and some don’t. So it’s entirely possible that her duplication goes down below the jawline and could be dangerous - but they won’t know that without a CAT scan or x-ray. [/QUOTE] I agree, they really should take her for some tests. I wonder if all four eyes are hooked up properly, and if so, will her brain will be able to process the four images into one? Will she have panoramic vision, or double vision, or will it be so scrambled that she can’t see at all? This is the kind of thing that they really should find out as quickly as possible. Doctors might be able to do something to improve her quality of life. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2008, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-a-baby-with-two-faces/444654/36 "2008-04-11T14:24:30Z")
[QUOTE=Eleanor of Aquitaine] Will she have panoramic vision, or double vision, or will it be so scrambled that she can’t see at all? [/QUOTE] All good questions, but the optimistic part of me thinks that she’ll be just fine. People have a remarkable ability to adjust their brains to match their vision. Remember that experiment from years ago where people wore upside-down goggles? ---
**Author:** ![Flander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8c91f0/32.png) [@Flander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flander)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2008, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-a-baby-with-two-faces/444654/37 "2008-04-11T16:04:00Z")
[QUOTE=GESancMan] Or… would she be able to give a blow job and carry on a conversation at the same time? [/QUOTE] Kinda defeats the purpose of the blow job, doesn’t it? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-a-baby-with-two-faces/444654.md?page=1)