# boy "pregnant" with own twin **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [May 3, 2003, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-pregnant-with-own-twin/172773 "2003-05-03T01:56:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Tsubaki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@Tsubaki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tsubaki)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2003, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-pregnant-with-own-twin/172773/21 "2003-05-04T00:01:13Z")
About the guy in China, they DID operate and DID remove the “twin”. He looks a lot better now. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2003, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-pregnant-with-own-twin/172773/22 "2003-05-04T00:37:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Tsubaki \* > \*\*About the guy in China, they DID operate and DID remove the “twin”. He looks a lot better now. \*\* “Say, Bob, you look fanTAStic! Have you lost weight?” “Nope” “Been working out?” “Nu-uh” “Haircut?” “Guess again” “Did you get your teeth whitened?” “Not even close. Give up?” “I guess so. What’s your secret?” “Remember that second partially-formed face I used to have? I had my malformed conjoined twin removed!” “THAT’S what it is! Boy, what a difference! Say, have you ever met my younger sister?” “Why, no…” ---
**Author:** ![sugaree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@sugaree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sugaree)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2003, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-pregnant-with-own-twin/172773/23 "2003-05-04T01:51:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sagasumono \* > \*\*I remember that story from That’s Incredible, back when I was like 6 years old or something. Eventually the guy did have surgery to remove it, and I THINK they removed it alive. \*\* > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Tsubaki \* > \*\*About the guy in China, they DID operate and DID remove the “twin”. He looks a lot better now. \*\* Wow, I am so relieved that this didn’t turn out to be some demented childhood fantasy of mine. Please let me know if either of you find any links or even can recommend a book or magazine I could track down. I really found this story haunting; it lingered with me. I am amazed that the parasitic twin could have been survived the surgery. IIRC, the second face looked nothing so much as that of a large fetus. ---
**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 4, 2003, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-pregnant-with-own-twin/172773/24 "2003-05-04T12:57:30Z")
There are instances of parasitic twins surviving long-term attached to the “autosite”. Once upon a time they were a regular feature of sideshows, nowadays most are probably operated on soon after birth, at least in the developed countries. This helpful website has pics and short bios on some of these folks: [Ratt’s Freak Show](http://phreeque.tripod.com/) Look under “parasitic twins” ---
**Author:** ![sugaree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@sugaree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sugaree)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2003, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-pregnant-with-own-twin/172773/25 "2003-05-05T11:01:02Z")
Thanks, **Broomstick** , on the site, I think I’ve found the story I remember! [Chang Tzu Ping](http://phreeque.tripod.com/chang_tzu_ping.html) had a second face removed, although the short paragraph here says that it probably not a parasitic twin, but a case of diprosophus (duplication of the face). In which case, all my memories about brain activity and hump-hidden bodies are false, no doubt the result of my own feverish "but what if?"s. But that’s gotta be the guy. How many two-faced Chinese villagers of his generation could there possibly be? ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2003, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-pregnant-with-own-twin/172773/26 "2003-05-05T13:32:06Z")
Sugaree, I was going to mention the Chinese dude with the extra mouth, as well. Very spooky thing. My dad worked with a woman who had what they thought to be an undeveloped twin on her back. It had hair and teeth and the whole bit. She was well into her 50s when they removed it. ---
**Author:** ![LorieSmurf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a587f6/32.png) [@LorieSmurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LorieSmurf)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-pregnant-with-own-twin/172773/27 "2003-05-06T03:32:05Z")
Brings to mind the nurse on South Park and that circus freak XFiles episode. ---
**Author:** ![geordielass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3da27b/32.png) [@geordielass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/geordielass)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-pregnant-with-own-twin/172773/28 "2003-05-06T05:25:00Z")
I highly doubt that ithis _twin_was even alive still. Depending on how big this _twin_ is inside the body, I doubt many people would be able to survive with something like that inside of them. The best choice is definitely to remove it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-pregnant-with-own-twin/172773.md?page=1)