# Baby with two heads (conjoined twin misdevelopment) **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 30, 2005, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-with-two-heads-conjoined-twin-misdevelopment/301818 "2005-04-30T02:31:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![jasonh300](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/46a35a/32.png) [@jasonh300](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasonh300)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2005, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-with-two-heads-conjoined-twin-misdevelopment/301818/1 "2005-04-30T02:31:34Z")
I just saw this on Snopes: (this might be disturbing to some people) [http://www.snopes.com/photos/medical/maged.asp](http://www.snopes.com/photos/medical/maged.asp) Is there any more information on this anywhere? I’m sure the twin died instantly when they separated them. Was this just a case where the baby had 2 heads or did the second head have a functioning brain, capable of independent thought? They said the second head could blink and smile. ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Straight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dec6dc/32.png) [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2005, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-with-two-heads-conjoined-twin-misdevelopment/301818/2 "2005-04-30T07:24:29Z")
I can only assume the cojoined head…the parasite of the main body, the autosite…would have caused too much of a physiological burden to the autosite and caused the eventual death of both, so the doctors felt the parasite needed to be sacrificed. IIRC, former Surgeon General C.Everett Koop (sp?) asked for assurance from the US Attorney General that he would not be charged with homicide when he needed to separate cojoined twins sharing one heart. ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Straight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dec6dc/32.png) [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2005, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-with-two-heads-conjoined-twin-misdevelopment/301818/3 "2005-05-17T23:58:36Z")
On Oprah this Thursday, May 19, the story will be aired. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-with-two-heads-conjoined-twin-misdevelopment/301818/4 "2005-05-18T01:45:08Z")
> [@Enola Straight](#): > > On Oprah this Thursday, May 19, the story will be aired. Yes, and the clip I saw showed the second head’s eyes moving and crying, and her mouth moving. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 10:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-with-two-heads-conjoined-twin-misdevelopment/301818/5 "2005-05-18T10:26:42Z")
Blinking and smiling, particularly blinking, are reflex actions to some degree and occur even when a lot of the brain isn’t there. So the mere fact that blinking, smiling, and mouth movements occur does not automatically indicate sentience. But even if the parasite head _did_ have a fully functional brain, if the situation was such that both would die if the operation wasn’t performed, then, well… do you save one/lose one or do you lose both? But doctors don’t always separate conjoined twins or remove one of two heads. [Abby and Brittany Hensel](http://www.abc.net.au/tv/documentaries/stories/s814409.htm) being one such example. Also an example were both individuals involved have fully functioning brains even if not full bodies. ---
**Author:** ![caveman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/caveman/32/7242_2.png) [@caveman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/caveman)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-with-two-heads-conjoined-twin-misdevelopment/301818/6 "2005-05-18T12:44:19Z")
So, what all was in the second head’s body? ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mighty\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Girl)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-with-two-heads-conjoined-twin-misdevelopment/301818/7 "2005-05-18T12:45:33Z")
There was a similar case here last year, although the parasitic twin was less developed, after the surgery the surviving twin only lived for about 24 hrs. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-with-two-heads-conjoined-twin-misdevelopment/301818/8 "2005-05-18T13:11:41Z")
. . . So, what did they do with the head? ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-with-two-heads-conjoined-twin-misdevelopment/301818/9 "2005-05-18T13:17:12Z")
I have to admit I’m surprised there wasn’t a big stink (any that I heard, anyway) from the “culture of life” people about the parasitic head’s right to be alive. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-with-two-heads-conjoined-twin-misdevelopment/301818/10 "2005-05-18T13:51:29Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > . . . So, what did they do with the head? I assumed it was disposed of however they get rid of other medical waste, probably incinerated. I also wonder if they removed the head in one piece, or if they had to take it off in pieces… Ugh. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-with-two-heads-conjoined-twin-misdevelopment/301818/11 "2005-05-18T14:12:48Z")
> [@Revtim](#): > > I assumed it was disposed of however they get rid of other medical waste, probably incinerated. I wonder if they did an autopsy on the head? Or if the head will be appearing on _Hardball with Chris Matthews_, protesting its removal? ---
**Author:** ![AwSnappity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a3d4f5/32.png) [@AwSnappity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AwSnappity)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-with-two-heads-conjoined-twin-misdevelopment/301818/12 "2005-05-18T15:27:48Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > Or if the head will be appearing on _Hardball with Chris Matthews_, protesting its removal? Ugh, I hate those talking heads shows. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-with-two-heads-conjoined-twin-misdevelopment/301818/13 "2005-05-18T17:09:22Z")
Revtim: > [@](#): > > I have to admit I’m surprised there wasn’t a big stink (any that I heard, anyway) from the “culture of life” people about the parasitic head’s right to be alive. These “culture of life” folk tend to be upset more when the dubious death is carried out for the convenience or finances of a more-fully-living person, not so much (though I won’t say never) when the more-fully-living person’s life is at stake. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-with-two-heads-conjoined-twin-misdevelopment/301818/14 "2005-05-18T17:58:22Z")
But I don’t think the more-fully-living person’s life was at stake. The only reason I can find they removed the parasitic twin was “The weight of the appendage would prevent Manar from crawling or sitting upright, prompting surgeons to remove it when she was ten-months-old.” > **[Rare Cases of a Two-Headed Twin With One Body](https://www.verywellfamily.com/parasitic-twin-profile-manar-maged-2446993)** > > Craniopagus parasiticus is a type of parasitic twin where the attachment is at the skull. Learn about this condition and possibility of separation. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-with-two-heads-conjoined-twin-misdevelopment/301818/15 "2005-05-18T18:48:13Z")
> [@Revtim](#): > > The only reason I can find they removed the parasitic twin was “The weight of the appendage would prevent Manar from crawling or sitting upright, prompting surgeons to remove it when she was ten-months-old.” She could have put a veil over it and disguised it as a kicky little cocktail hat. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-with-two-heads-conjoined-twin-misdevelopment/301818/16 "2005-05-18T19:15:48Z")
Or become a school nurse at South Park Elementary. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-with-two-heads-conjoined-twin-misdevelopment/301818/17 "2005-05-18T19:48:42Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > . . . So, what did they do with the head? It’s being fitted with wooden arms and legs, for little Manar’s show-and-tell ventriloquism act. ---
**Author:** ![istara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e79b87/32.png) [@istara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/istara)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-with-two-heads-conjoined-twin-misdevelopment/301818/18 "2005-05-18T22:31:16Z")
> [@Revtim](#): > > I have to admit I’m surprised there wasn’t a big stink (any that I heard, anyway) from the “culture of life” people about the parasitic head’s right to be alive. Yes, I noticed that. Some people claimed that it “wasn’t a fully functioning brain” but I never saw a single doctor saying that. I kind of wonder if the medics deliberately played down the head as just an “appendage”, to avoid interference from the cray-zee brigade. I did read in several reports that the head-twin was NOT (obvious) capable of independent life, and that conjoined, neither were capable of future life. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-with-two-heads-conjoined-twin-misdevelopment/301818/19 "2005-05-18T22:44:07Z")
Revtim, having read your link, I retract my answer…unless istara’s recollections are correct that other reports have said they were not capable of living conjoined in the long term. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-with-two-heads-conjoined-twin-misdevelopment/301818/20 "2005-05-18T22:52:31Z")
Probably the biggest reason there wasn’t a big deal about was because it was in Egypt, and not in the US. Did this even hit the network news in the US? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-with-two-heads-conjoined-twin-misdevelopment/301818.md?page=2)