# What happens when one siamese twin dies?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-when-one-siamese-twin-dies/183941>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [June 24, 2003, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-when-one-siamese-twin-dies/183941 "2003-06-24T03:54:09Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Nimsay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5e9695/32.png) [@Nimsay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nimsay)\
**Post date:** [June 24, 2003, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-when-one-siamese-twin-dies/183941/1 "2003-06-24T03:54:09Z")

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I was recently reading about a woman who gave birth to three babies at once; two of them girls connected and cannot be seperated, and a boy who was not joined with them. So, let’s say one of these girls die…what happens to the other twin?!😕

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**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\
**Post date:** [June 24, 2003, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-when-one-siamese-twin-dies/183941/2 "2003-06-24T04:06:08Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> In the end, the twins were autopsied – with no payment made to the family – and buried.
> 
> The autopsy made three points on the separation question: Separation as children might have been wise; no such operation would have been worth the risk later in life; and the operation should have been performed immediately upon Chang’s death. In 1897, the American Medical Association weighed in for a final judgment: Given advances in the use of antiseptics, had the twins lived at that time, they could have been successfully separated.

Source: [The original Siamese Twins](http://blueridgecountry.com/newtwins/twins.html)

Of course, each conjoined twin, and their individual deaths, are unique. I doubt you will find a standard answer.

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**Author:** ![greyseal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bbe5ce/32.png) [@greyseal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/greyseal)\
**Post date:** [June 24, 2003, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-when-one-siamese-twin-dies/183941/3 "2003-06-24T04:14:28Z")

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I think it depends mostly on how many systems are interdependent in the twins’ bodies.

If it’s mostly superficial attachment, I think it’s not too difficult to detach them, even if one dies. Without medical treatment, however, I think one dying usually results in both.