# Can conjoined twins get pregnant?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-conjoined-twins-get-pregnant/179456
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [June 3, 2003, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-conjoined-twins-get-pregnant/179456 "2003-06-03T21:36:39Z")
**Posts on this page:** 8
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)
#### Post date: [June 3, 2003, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-conjoined-twins-get-pregnant/179456/1 "2003-06-03T21:36:39Z")
I know they can father children, but are there any cases of female conjoined twins getting pregnant and giving birth?
And is “siamese” twins considered offensive?
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### Author:  [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)
#### Post date: [June 3, 2003, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-conjoined-twins-get-pregnant/179456/2 "2003-06-03T22:49:59Z")
Depends on the type of cojoining -
[Cojoined Twins](http://multiples.miningco.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http://www.twinstuff.com/conjoined.htm)
> [@](#):
>
> Craniopagus Twins are joined at the cranium (the top of the head or skull). Occuring in just 2% of all conjoined twin cases, this is a very difficult type of twin to separate although advances in medicine have led to more than 35 successful separations. Two female craniopagus twins were successful separated in Lithuania in 1989, for example.
>
> Thoraopagus The most common form of conjoined twins, occuring in between 35-40% of all cases. The twins share part of the chest wall, possibly including sharing the heart.
>
> Pygopagus Twins are likely positioned back-to-back and usually have a posterior connecton at the rump. Occurs in almost 20% of documented cases.
>
> Ischiopagus About 6% of all conjoined twins have this condition, with the twins joined by the coccyx (lowest part of the backbone) and the sacrum (backbone immediately above the coccyx).
>
> Omphalopagus Twins are united from the waist to the lower breastbone, probably accounting for about 34% of conjoined cases.
>
> Dicephalus One body with two separate heads and necks. Abigail and Brittany Hensel of the United States are an example of this very rare type of conjoined twin. The Tocci Brothers, Scottish Brothers and Ritta and Christina were also examples of this type of conjoined twin.
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### Author:  [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)
#### Post date: [June 3, 2003, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-conjoined-twins-get-pregnant/179456/3 "2003-06-03T23:29:55Z")
Why wouldn’t they be able to? Unless their conjoining (or other conditions unrelated to their conjoining) affected their reproductive organs, it wouldn’t make a bit of difference for their fertility.
Now their ability to carry to term and deliver would also be impacted by their conjoined status, but I expect every conjoined twin set would be a unique situation vis a vis fertility.
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### Author:  [@sugaree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sugaree)
#### Post date: [June 4, 2003, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-conjoined-twins-get-pregnant/179456/4 "2003-06-04T00:00:46Z")
There’s a case discussed on another page of that site **astro** linked to: [Josepha and Rosa Blazik](http://multiples.miningco.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http://www.twinstuff.com/conjoined.htm) were joined at the hip (well, pelvis), but that didn’t stop Rosa from giving birth in 1900. Sadly, the courts would not allow her and her baby daddy to wed.
[Here](http://phreeque.tripod.com/louisel.html) and [here](http://phreeque.tripod.com/myrtle_corbin.html) are stories of women with parasitic twins who married and had children. I guess they didn’t have the problem Rosa had, or rather, that Josepha had- what to do with yourself while your conjoined twin has a moment of intimancy with her lover.
I think that there will be few cases of a conjoined twin giving birth because these twins have such a high infant and child mortality rate. Even today, the world’s oldest unseparated pair are only in their early fifties. However, it does seem as if, over the years, male conjoined twins were more likely to marry than were female.
Yes, I don’t think the term “Siamese twins” is used anymore. It’s inaccurate. Chang and Eng Bunker were born in Siam; what does that have to do with any other pair of twins? Conjoined seems to be the preferred term.
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### Author:  [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)
#### Post date: [May 23, 2013, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-conjoined-twins-get-pregnant/179456/6 "2013-05-23T15:40:10Z")
> [@sugaree](#):
>
> There’s a case discussed on another page of that site **astro** linked to: [Josepha and Rosa Blazik](http://multiples.miningco.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http://www.twinstuff.com/conjoined.htm) were joined at the hip (well, pelvis), but that didn’t stop Rosa from giving birth in 1900. Sadly, the courts would not allow her and her baby daddy to wed.
I also read that both women were able to nurse the baby, and the weirdest thing about the pregnancy is that the one who was pregnant didn’t have morning sickness, but her twin did. :eek:
As for your information on parasitic twins, one was in the news a few years ago, decades after his death. His name was Frank Lentini, and he’s the man who had 3 legs; it was a partial twin that grew out of his lower back. Some kids started a rock band and named it “Kill Frank Lentini” :smack: and his grandchildren were (to put it mildly) not happy about this.
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### Author:  [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)
#### Post date: [May 23, 2013, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-conjoined-twins-get-pregnant/179456/7 "2013-05-23T15:42:16Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#):
>
> Why wouldn’t they be able to? Unless their conjoining (or other conditions unrelated to their conjoining) affected their reproductive organs, it wouldn’t make a bit of difference for their fertility.
>
> Now their ability to carry to term and deliver would also be impacted by their conjoined status, but I expect every conjoined twin set would be a unique situation vis a vis fertility.
Lori and Reba Schappell, the women joined at the forehead, have discussed this very subject. Lori wanted to have a child but never did (although she’s had relationships with men) whereas Reba, who rides around on a wheeled stool, was described as having "spina bifida with incomplete development of the - " and then the program cut to her saying, “There are some things I would like to keep to me.”
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### Author:  [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)
#### Post date: [May 23, 2013, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-conjoined-twins-get-pregnant/179456/11 "2013-05-23T19:35:26Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#):
>
> Lori and Reba Schappell, the women joined at the forehead, have discussed this very subject. Lori wanted to have a child but never did (although she’s had relationships with men) whereas Reba, who rides around on a wheeled stool, was described as having "spina bifida with incomplete development of the - " and then the program cut to her saying, “There are some things I would like to keep to me.”
Reba actually identifies as male and has changed his name to George. George actually performs as a country singer. That is an absolutely fascinating set of conjoined twins…
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### Author:  [@choie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/choie)
#### Post date: [May 24, 2013, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-conjoined-twins-get-pregnant/179456/12 "2013-05-24T00:42:47Z")
> [@jayjay](#):
>
> Reba actually identifies as male and has changed his name to George. George actually performs as a country singer. That is an absolutely fascinating set of conjoined twins…
That’s really interesting! For once a zombie pays off. Back in the early 2000s I had a rather strange fascination with the subject of conjoined twins, even subscribed to a mailing list devoted to the subject, and saw a couple of documentaries that naturally included the Schappells. But at the time Reba (now George) was just described as a country singer, and didn’t appear to identify (or rather, was never said to identify) as male. This must be a relatively new development, or maybe he hadn’t made this public yet. Though ‘new development’ is probably the wrong term: now that I think of it, that was 13 years ago, holy crap, time flies.
Anyway, regarding the Blazek twins mentioned above by **nearwildheaven** and **sugaree** , there’s actually some controversy regarding whether Rosa was ever pregnant or gave birth at all. [This page discusses the issues behind the controversy](http://thehumanmarvels.com/139/rosa-josepha-blazek-the-bohemian-twins/conjoined-twins), which related to the fact that “Little Franz” just sort of appeared one day, and once the twins died, a post-mortem had no evidence of a pregnancy – and later, it was revealed that Franz had spent time in an orphanage, which may have been where he was “picked up” and added to the act to increase flagging interest.