# 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:** 2
**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, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-with-two-heads-conjoined-twin-misdevelopment/301818/21 "2005-05-18T22:57:49Z")
> [@cmkeller](#): > > 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. I’d be kinda surprised if that were the case, my gut feel is that conjoined twin cases only have to be separated when they share body organs. Of course, that’s just the gut feel of a non-doctor, so that may be very, very wrong. I’d sure like more information on this case. I almost started basically this same thread when I saw this on Yahoo months ago, I should have striken while the iron was hot. ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-with-two-heads-conjoined-twin-misdevelopment/301818/22 "2005-05-18T23:00:02Z")
> [@Revtim](#): > > Did this even hit the network news in the US? It was on the news here in Canada. ---
**Author:** ![Eleusis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Eleusis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleusis)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2005, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-with-two-heads-conjoined-twin-misdevelopment/301818/23 "2005-05-19T07:42:31Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > . . . So, what did they do with the head? Ebay. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2005, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-with-two-heads-conjoined-twin-misdevelopment/301818/24 "2005-05-19T13:06:04Z")
Maybe, after [a good role in the movies](http://www.oldies.com/product/view.cfm/id_4054D.html), Manar and Head could star in a Fox sitcom. Imagine the wacky scrapes they could get into on _Gimme Head!_ ---
**Author:** ![Padeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@Padeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Padeye)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2005, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-with-two-heads-conjoined-twin-misdevelopment/301818/25 "2005-05-19T16:54:01Z")
I wonder if any serious tests were done on the function of the second head’s brain or if everyone involved decided it was better not to know. ---
**Author:** ![Sarah\_Woodruff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df788c/32.png) [@Sarah\_Woodruff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarah_Woodruff)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-with-two-heads-conjoined-twin-misdevelopment/301818/26 "2005-05-20T07:47:52Z")
I’m too squeamish to click on the OP’s link. Let me understand this - was the conjoined twin that was removed an _undeveloped_ foetus? Or a baby on an equal development level to the surviving twin? What a sad situation. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 8:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-with-two-heads-conjoined-twin-misdevelopment/301818/27 "2005-05-20T08:54:27Z")
The conjoined twin looked like a fully developed, almost whole, head. Just the head. Nothing else. Connected at an angle up on top of the head. Or so I recall it, I’m not looking again. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-with-two-heads-conjoined-twin-misdevelopment/301818/28 "2005-05-20T12:04:06Z")
They should have left the twin in place. In a sexually conservative society, it would have made Manar very marriageable. A threesome every night! Head like you wouldn’t believe! ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-with-two-heads-conjoined-twin-misdevelopment/301818/29 "2005-05-20T13:11:58Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > They should have left the twin in place. In a sexually conservative society, it would have made Manar very marriageable. A threesome every night! Head like you wouldn’t believe! Yeah, but if she’s Muslim, that would result in a _seriously_ inconvenient headscarf situation. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-with-two-heads-conjoined-twin-misdevelopment/301818/30 "2005-05-20T13:19:55Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > Yeah, but if she’s Muslim, that would result in a _seriously_ inconvenient headscarf situation. I sure it could be worked around, as long as she quits while she’s ahead. ---
**Author:** ![zuma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9c0ed/32.png) [@zuma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zuma)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-with-two-heads-conjoined-twin-misdevelopment/301818/31 "2005-05-20T13:24:33Z")
I wonder if they even got an ultrasound… this should never have happened. This should have been terminated early on Of course the “culture of life” exists in just about every culture. Sheesh. Taking pictures of it and spreading it around the net are even worse. Subjecting these two kids to “separation surgery” is worse still. Nice to see Oprah is jumping in to take advantage of the situation. ---
**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 20, 2005, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-with-two-heads-conjoined-twin-misdevelopment/301818/32 "2005-05-20T13:26:13Z")
> [@naita](#): > > The conjoined twin looked like a fully developed, almost whole, head. Just the head. Nothing else. Connected at an angle up on top of the head. Or so I recall it, I’m not looking again. There was also some body mass under the head, it looks like about equal to the head in size. ---
**Author:** ![Susie\_Derkins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47774/32.png) [@Susie\_Derkins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Susie_Derkins)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-with-two-heads-conjoined-twin-misdevelopment/301818/33 "2005-05-20T13:36:40Z")
Well, I watched Oprah yesterday, and I was amazed. Islaam (the parasitic twin) could smile, suck on a pacifier, and cry (it was almost spooky to see her awake and crying when her sister was asleep). Evidently she had her own left half of a brain, but shared the right half with her sister Manar. Manar’s heart was barely keeping both of them alive; she went into cardiac arrest 6 times which is why they had to separate them. They actually used pieces of Islaam to repair Manar’s head during the surgery. The biggest surprise to me was that there was a whole other fully formed baby involved. I’ve forgotten her name, but the girls were actually triplets. ---
**Author:** ![Susie\_Derkins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47774/32.png) [@Susie\_Derkins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Susie_Derkins)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-with-two-heads-conjoined-twin-misdevelopment/301818/34 "2005-05-20T13:40:35Z")
…which I’m assuming could have made it very hard to tell what was what in an ultrasound. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-with-two-heads-conjoined-twin-misdevelopment/301818/35 "2005-05-20T13:41:47Z")
How could Head cry and suck on a pacifier when her throat was not connected to any lungs? ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-with-two-heads-conjoined-twin-misdevelopment/301818/36 "2005-05-20T13:54:14Z")
Her head was connected to the single body, where she was receiving all nourishment and oxygen. ---
**Author:** ![Susie\_Derkins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47774/32.png) [@Susie\_Derkins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Susie_Derkins)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-with-two-heads-conjoined-twin-misdevelopment/301818/37 "2005-05-20T13:58:27Z")
Yeah, I should have clarified: when she cried she didn’t make any noise. Sucking the pacifier just used the mouth muscles. It appeared that she produced saliva but couldn’t swallow (she looked like she drooled much more than your average drooling baby). ---
**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 20, 2005, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-with-two-heads-conjoined-twin-misdevelopment/301818/38 "2005-05-20T14:25:35Z")
**Susie Derkins** , thanks much for update. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-with-two-heads-conjoined-twin-misdevelopment/301818/39 "2005-05-20T14:40:24Z")
> [@Revtim](#): > > **Susie Derkins** , thanks much for update. . . . or “heads-up” . . . ---
**Author:** ![OhFace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecccb3/32.png) [@OhFace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OhFace)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-with-two-heads-conjoined-twin-misdevelopment/301818/40 "2005-05-20T15:25:06Z")
I also watched the Oprah bit on this yesterday. It was really amazing. I couldn’t imagine having to go through what the mother went through, but I believe they did what was best. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-with-two-heads-conjoined-twin-misdevelopment/301818.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-with-two-heads-conjoined-twin-misdevelopment/301818.md?page=3)