As to the jury duty question my WAG is that they would just be exempt. There are exemptions for other reasonable things like school or what have you and besides there are plenty of other people out there to fill their potential slot on the jury.
I loved the show btw.
[QUOTE=Contrapuntal]
You’re welcome. It is remarkable to me that they are able to be so coordinated physically. The video shows them typing! I can barely manage two fingers by myself.
[/QUOTE]
Yeah, this freaks me out.
Though I’ve just realized: This is like the “split brain” people writ large!
This in turn makes me think maybe there can be an argument made that they are just one person after all…
-FrL-
It seems like these questions would have to be answered on a case-by-case basis in light of exactly what the biology of the individual set of twins is?
Or, alternately, an argument could be made that a split-brained human organism is two people, after all.
As for things like them typing, or walking, in a coordinated manner, it’s likely that there’s some degree of neural connection between them. I wouldn’t expect anything like full-on telepathy, but there’s probably something internal which could loosely be described as “communication”. Of course, it’d be almost impossible to determine this, without an autopsy or a lot more similar cases.
[QUOTE=Tripler]
I’m also thinking of voting: there’s gotta be some political or legal actions that require at least some form of secrecy or seperation (you’re not supposed to enter the booth with someone else).
[/QUOTE]
May vary from state to state, but at least in Missouri you’re allowed to have someone with you when you vote. For example to read the ballot to you, or to mark the ballot IAW your instructions if you are diabled.
[QUOTE=Alive At Both Ends]
Morbid question - what happens when one of a pair of conjoined twins dies? Is it possible for one to die without the other? I imagine it depends on how “conjoined” they are to start with, but does anyone here know for sure?
[/QUOTE]
Well, for sure with these two girls neither one could possibly survive the death of the other.
It really depends on how connected the twins are, and how quickly they could be separated in the event of sudden death.
[QUOTE=Broomstick]
No more than any other identical twins. If Sally and Lisa are (non-conjoined) identical twins, if Sally has a baby then Lisa is an aunt, not a co-mother, even if genetically the two sisters are identical.
Yes, it does get a little weird with the Hensel twins, but I’d say legally and socially you could have a mother/aunt situation if one of the girls was married and the other wasn’t.
However, if both girls marry different men they’ll you need a paternity test to figure out who fathered the child. Not that big a deal these days. Unless they marry identical twins, in which case it will be impossible to determine specific paternity through genetic testing.
In any case, I would expect it’s something that would worked out between the parties involved should the issue arise. Let’s be real here, the girls are at a disadvantage in dating due to their physical deviations from the norm.
I do find it disturbing how often people go from “Oh, they’re so cute!” to speculation on their potential sexual lives. Wonder what Abby and Brittany think about that sort of thing?
[/QUOTE]
Yes, but in Brittany’s and Abigail’s case, don’t they have only one reproductive system? Therefore, they’d both be co-mothers, if only because it would be impossible otherwise.
You gotta admire them-they really cope well-I can’t imagine having to share a BODY with someone else. And they’re absolutely adorable, as well. (I saw a recent picture-both have that beautiful strawberry blond hair, big eyes, freckles. Cute kids.)
I don’t see why people are so hooked on the idea that because they share a reproductive system, they’d have to be “co-mothers.” A person’s reproductive equipment is frequently divorced from their status as parent of a particular child. You have surrogacy, adoption, gay parents, sperm/egg donation . . . If the girls can have separate driver’s licenses, I don’t see why they can’t be separate mothers. The other sister would be simply a surrogate of sorts for her sister’s child.
[QUOTE=Scarlett67]
I don’t see why people are so hooked on the idea that because they share a reproductive system, they’d have to be “co-mothers.” A person’s reproductive equipment is frequently divorced from their status as parent of a particular child. You have surrogacy, adoption, gay parents, sperm/egg donation . . . If the girls can have separate driver’s licenses, I don’t see why they can’t be separate mothers. The other sister would be simply a surrogate of sorts for her sister’s child.
[/QUOTE]
I think you have the wrong end of the stick here. While it is possible to be a mother without having given birth, everyone who *does *give birth is *necessarily *a mother.
[QUOTE=Guinastasia]
Yes, but in Brittany’s and Abigail’s case, don’t they have only one reproductive system? Therefore, they’d both be co-mothers, if only because it would be impossible otherwise.
You gotta admire them-they really cope well-I can’t imagine having to share a BODY with someone else. And they’re absolutely adorable, as well. (I saw a recent picture-both have that beautiful strawberry blond hair, big eyes, freckles. Cute kids.)
[/QUOTE]
That’s what I’m thinking. They’d both own all the eggs, right?
What if one of them wanted to abort? How would they handle that?
[QUOTE=Contrapuntal]
I think you have the wrong end of the stick here. While it is possible to be a mother without having given birth, everyone who *does *give birth is *necessarily *a mother.
[/QUOTE]
Not a surrogate. Legally, anyway, which is the point under discussion.
[QUOTE=Kalhoun]
What if one of them wanted to abort? How would they handle that?
[/QUOTE]
Well, presumably like they handle what shirt to wear, what movie to see and what classes to take - by talking it out and reaching a decision together.
[QUOTE=WhyNot]
Well, presumably like they handle what shirt to wear, what movie to see and what classes to take - by talking it out and reaching a decision together.
[/QUOTE]
Well, yes…but what if one of them really didn’t want it and one did? How would a court decide whose rights would prevail? Actually I could see this happening, particularly if one gets involved with a man that the other really doesn’t like (though I believe they are so in tune with each other that it would be highly unlikely).
Suppose A and B are conjoined. B has just had sex with his lover and is now asleep. A never did like the girl and reaches into the nightstand, and without waking B, A shoots the girl dead. Now A has committed murder without the knowledge or consent of B. But to imprison A would be false imprisonment for B. What would society do?
Ooh! These are fun. What if A had sex with C, while B was asleep? Could she press charges of rape, because she didn’t consent? Who would the rapist be, A or C or both? What if A and C got B drunk first? (Can B get drunk if A isn’t, considering they share a bloodstream?)
Really, the answer is just that it will have to be worked out if and when it ever happens. Anything beforehand is just so much mental masturbation. (Not that there’s anything wrong with that!)
[QUOTE=WhyNot]
Ooh! These are fun. What if A had sex with C, while B was asleep? Could she press charges of rape, because she didn’t consent? Who would the rapist be, A or C or both? What if A and C got B drunk first? (Can B get drunk if A isn’t, considering they share a bloodstream?)
Really, the answer is just that it will have to be worked out if and when it ever happens. Anything beforehand is just so much mental masturbation. (Not that there’s anything wrong with that!)
[/QUOTE]
I know! I’m very curious about any legal opinions on it, even though I know it can’t be solved here.
Deleted. Answered wrong question.
[QUOTE=Scarlett67]
Not a surrogate. Legally, anyway, which is the point under discussion.
[/QUOTE]
The full phrase is “surrogate mother.” She is still the mother. Legally, she is not the parent.
[QUOTE=Contrapuntal]
The full phrase is “surrogate mother.” She is still the mother. Legally, she is not the parent.
[/QUOTE]
I thought we were talking about legal status in this thread. People are making this “co-mother” argument, that both girls would be on the birth certificate as mothers of the child. Show me where any surrogate has been listed on the birth certificate of a child as a “co-parent.”