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.
It was on the news here in Canada.
Ebay.
Maybe, after a good role in the movies, Manar and Head could star in a Fox sitcom. Imagine the wacky scrapes they could get into on Gimme Head!
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.
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.
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.
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.
I sure it could be worked around, as long as she quits while she’s ahead.
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.
There was also some body mass under the head, it looks like about equal to the head in size.
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.
…which I’m assuming could have made it very hard to tell what was what in an ultrasound.
How could Head cry and suck on a pacifier when her throat was not connected to any lungs?
Her head was connected to the single body, where she was receiving all nourishment and oxygen.
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).
Susie Derkins, thanks much for update.
. . . or “heads-up” . . .
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.