Parents Opt Not to Separate Conjoined Twin Boys

[phillygirl]

Andrew and Garette Stancombe were born two weeks ago in Indiana, Pa., joined from the breastbone to the waist. Doctors said it was too medically risky to separate them, giving them between a 5 and 25 percent chance of survival. They share a heart and a liver and, their parents said, an unbreakable bond.“We’re grateful they have been able to survive this long and they’re both going strong,” said the boy’s father, Kody Stancombe.Van Horne added, “Losing them isn’t an option.”
Today, the Stancombe twins are heading home, where they will join their older brother, 23-month-old Ryan Stancombe.

heartbreaking

[Gingersnap]

Heartbreaking but survivable. There are a lot (not statistically but known) conjoined twins who lead interesting lives.

A couple of months a ago I was struck by the tiny number of "deformed" people I see today compared to what I saw as a kid. It was common then to see war vets missing limbs (post Vietnam) or people with cerebral palsy or bucktoothed kids or Down syndrome kids or people with obvious burn scars, etc.

I seldom see a Down syndrome person or an adult with obvious palsy. No polio survivors. No crooked-teethed kids. No albinos. No pointy-headed kids.

I don't know if all these people just look better now or if some of them have simply been killed before they could mature.

[phillygirl]

Some have been killed. Some have been fixed. Odd about the Down Syndrome. I actually see a lot of them. Maybe it's because I work near a very good school for mentally handicapped kids. Maybe it's because I notice them...especially the kids. They always make an impression on me, as I think they are beautiful.

[Novaheart]

Heartbreaking but survivable. There are a lot (not statistically but known) conjoined twins who lead interesting lives.

A couple of months a ago I was struck by the tiny number of "deformed" people I see today compared to what I saw as a kid. It was common then to see war vets missing limbs (post Vietnam) or people with cerebral palsy or bucktoothed kids or Down syndrome kids or people with obvious burn scars, etc.

I seldom see a Down syndrome person or an adult with obvious palsy. No polio survivors. No crooked-teethed kids. No albinos. No pointy-headed kids.

I don't know if all these people just look better now or if some of them have simply been killed before they could mature.

I see a Downs guy at the health food store now and then. He's actually so well adjusted and handsome that you look twice to be certain. I think he even drives, though he is always with his mother. He looks like a high school letterman from Grease.

[Novaheart]

Some have been killed. Some have been fixed. Odd about the Down Syndrome. I actually see a lot of them. Maybe it's because I work near a very good school for mentally handicapped kids. Maybe it's because I notice them...especially the kids. They always make an impression on me, as I think they are beautiful.

I think we see a lot of them in Florida because they are living longer and their parents retire here.

[RobJohnson]

Prayers for the parents and the boys. I think I have something in my eye.

[Novaheart]

I don't know anything about how this works, but isn't it amazing that there can be such a giant biological error and yet they are still fully functional? If they were simply fused, connected by skin or perhaps a little bone, then it wouldn't be all that amazing. Human tissue often adapts and grows in strange ways. But to be two people who share a heart and a liver, that's some magical engineering there. If we can figure out how the body/cells decide on an adaptation, we'll probably be able to get the body to fix all sorts of things on its own.