Twin headed sisters - Conjoined Twins in One body

[DS Star]

Two heads, two souls in one body

http://youtu.be/VQgTwH6ijp8
	Small | Large

I wonder what kind of karma that cause this to happen...

Were they too attached to each other in previous lives that propelled their consciousnesses to share one body? Or is it because they were enemies thus created very strong connection to be born attached to each other and MUST compromise to execute their EVERY move?

[Amitabha]

This is two alaya mind/consciousness or in general understanding for alaya consicousness is known as soul. Both childs are too emotionally loving their parents that while entering the pregnancy instead of developing into twins, it was on simultaneous moment and as such, only one body accomodating 2 alaya consicousness. What is happy episode but not on a comfortable ending. Hope that they all live coordinatedly and harmoniously bliss together. May they be well and safe and achieve nirvana.

[brian]

I do not know what caused this to happen but the only explaination from science point of view will be because of the mutation in the body system or conceiving process (??). But this is a sorry sight for me really. If what you guys explained is true (which I feel so as well), I will start to wonder if this scenario actually applies to people who are twins? Both were too attached to their mother and out of karma, both of them were conceived together in two different bodies sharing a womb. Hmmm...

[Amitabha]

In amitabha sutra, there is a bird name Kary?binga or in sanscript called J?vaj?vaka is a two-headed bird representing non dualism. It also representing that bird also can speaks dharma to those bird lovers who brought over their attachment towards birds to Amitabha Land of Ultimate Bliss. It also representing that human to love animals and not to look down of birds which may be bodhisavatta liberating other birds or other living beings.

[Jessie Fong]

Being conjoined twins is already a difficult situation where the 2 siblings are sharing a common part of their body.  In this case of Abby and Brittany, sharing the same body but 2 separate heads would mean that they have to actually "agree" to to their physical actions, otherwise they might just end up going in different directions.

Conjoined twins (or rather commonly known as "Siames" twins) are twins whose bodies are joined together.
But for Abby and Brittany they share one body.  Like Brian said, they might have mutated.

[rossoneri]

Conjoined twins
From Wikipedia,

Conjoined twins are identical twins whose bodies are joined in utero. A rare phenomenon, the occurrence is estimated to range from 1 in 50,000 births to 1 in 100,000 births, with a somewhat higher incidence in Southwest Asia and Africa. Approximately half are stillborn, and a smaller fraction of pairs born alive have abnormalities incompatible with life. The overall survival rate for conjoined twins is approximately 25%. The condition is more frequently found among females, with a ratio of 3:1.

Two contradicting theories exist to explain the origins of conjoined twins. The older theory is fission, in which the fertilized egg splits partially. The second and more generally accepted theory is fusion, in which a fertilized egg completely separates, but stem cells (which search for similar cells) find like-stem cells on the other twin and fuse the twins together. Conjoined twins share a single common chorion, placenta, and amniotic sac, although these characteristics are not exclusive to conjoined twins as there are some monozygotic but non-conjoined twins that also share these structures in utero.

The most famous pair of conjoined twins was Chang and Eng Bunker (In-Chan) (1811–1874), Thai brothers born in Siam, now Thailand. They traveled with P.T. Barnum's circus for many years and were billed as the Siamese Twins. Chang and Eng were joined by a band of flesh, cartilage, and their fused livers at the torso. In modern times, they could have been easily separated.[5] Due to the brothers' fame and the rarity of the condition, the term "Siamese twins" came to be used as a synonym for conjoined twins


List of notable conjoined twins

Born 19th century and earlier

• Mary and Eliza Chulkhurst (1500–1534, also known as the Biddenden Maids) from England. They are the earliest set of conjoined twins whose names are known.

• Lazarus and Joannes Baptista Colloredo (1617-164-?)

• Helen and Judith of Szony (Hungary, 1701–1723)

• Chang and Eng Bunker (1811–1874), from Thailand (formerly Siam), joined by the areas around their xiphoid cartilages, but over time the join stretched; the expression Siamese twins is derived from their case
   
• Millie and Christine McCoy (July 11, 1851 - October 8, 1912) were American conjoined twins who went by the stage names "The Two-Headed Nightingale" and "The Eighth Wonder of the World".

• Giacomo and Giovanni Battista Tocci (1875?-1912?)

Born 20th century

• Daisy and Violet Hilton of Brighton, England (1908–1969), actresses, appeared in the movies Freaks and Chained for Life.

• Lucio and Simplicio Godina of Samar, Philippines (1908–1936)

• Masha and Dasha Krivoshlyapova of Moscow, Russia (1950–2003), rarest form of conjoined twins, only known case of dicephalus tetrabrachius tripus (two heads, four arms, three legs).

• Ronnie and Donnie Galyon of Ohio (1951–), currently the world's oldest living conjoined twins, Omphalopagus.

• Lori and George Schappell born September 18, 1961 in Reading, Pennsylvania, American entertainers, craniopagus.

• Ladan and Laleh Bijani of Shiraz, Iran (1974–2003); died during separation surgery in Singapore.

• Viet and Duc Nguyen, born on February 25, 1981 in Kon Tum Province, Vietnam, and separated in 1988 in Ho Chi Minh City. Viet died on October 6, 2007.

• Abigail and Brittany Hensel are dicephalic parapagus twins born March 7, 1990 in Carver County, Minnesota.

Born 21st century

• Carmen and Lupita Andrade-Solis, born in Mexico in 2000 with Dicephalus Tetrabrachius Dipus (2 heads, 4 arms and 2 legs). Separation was not possible.

• Carl and Clarence Aguirre, born vertical craniopagus in Manila on 21 April 2002, successfully separated in 2004.

• Kendra and Maliyah Herrin, ischiopagus twins separated in 2006 at age 4.

• Anastasia and Tatiana Dogaru, born outside Rome, Italy on January 13, 2004. As Craniopagus twins, the top of Tatiana's head is attached to the back of Anastasias's head.

• Lakshmi Tatma (born 2005) was an ischiopagus conjoined twin born in Araria district in the state of Bihar, India. She had four arms and four legs, resulting from a joining at the pelvis with a headless undeveloped parasitic twin.

• Krista and Tatiana Hogan, Canadian twins conjoined at the head. Born October 25, 2006. Share part of their brain and can pass sensory information and thoughts between each other.

• Trishna and Krishna from Bangladesh were born in December, 2006, Craniopagus twins, joined on the tops of their skulls, and sharing a small amount of brain tissue. In 2009, they were separated in Melbourne, Australia.

[Rihanna]

'I wonder what kind of karma that cause this to happen...

Were they too attached to each other in previous lives that propelled their consciousnesses to share one body? Or is it because they were enemies thus created very strong connection to be born attached to each other and MUST compromise to execute their EVERY move?'

This is an interesting question you posted here DS Star. I wonder as well.

I have not heard any spiritual teachers touching on this subject. My own limited perspective thinks it can only be that they were too attached to each other in their previous lives. I deduce this from the fact that there has been no recorded cases whereby the conjoined twins cannot get along with each other hence they want to be separated. If they were enemies, they would have beaten the head off each other.

[DS Star]

I have not heard any spiritual teachers touching on this subject. My own limited perspective thinks it can only be that they were too attached to each other in their previous lives. I deduce this from the fact that there has been no recorded cases whereby the conjoined twins cannot get along with each other hence they want to be separated. If they were enemies, they would have beaten the head off each other.

Dear Rihanna, actually in most of the conjoined twins cases that I read, they wanted to be separated because they don't really share common interests and don't want to be stuck to each other...

Brittany: “Believed me, we are totally different people. We usually bargain with each other, if you do this I’ll give better…” ;

Abigail: “Or we take turns, we take turns a lot.”

Abby brittany hensel. Conjoined twins. (Abigail Brittany Hensel) turn 16. Twins Who Share a Body	Small | Large

In conversation, the twins are clearly distinct persons, with distinct likes and dislikes.  Their preferences in food, clothing color, etc. differ. Some of their clothes are altered by their seamstress so that they have two separate necklines in order to emphasize their individuality. They will usually have separate meals, but sometimes will share a single meal for the sake of convenience (e.g., each takes a bite of the same hamburger). Abigail is better at mathematics and Brittany is better at writing.
http://abicte.com/info/27

For Abigail and Brittany Hansel; the conjoined twins in one body they are still young and in their case there is no possibilities at all to separate them because they are sharing many vital organs with only one arm for each of them and only one pair of legs.



Whereas when there is possibility even though very slim, like in the case of Iranian conjoined twin sisters, Laleh and Ladan Bijani, they willing risked their lives in order to be separated.

29 year-old Laleh and Ladan Bijani who were born conjoined at their heads, undergo the world's first adult Siamese twins surgical separation in Singapore on 6 July 2003, however they died within 9 hours of each other in the 52-hour marathon operation.

"The twins were well aware that this was the start of a fateful long journey to see the biggest dream of their lives come true: to live as two separate individuals as befits their different personalities. For example, Ladan had wanted to study law at university, while Laleh wanted to study journalism but both ended up studying law. Laleh wanted to live in Tehran to work, while Ladan had thoughts of returning to their hometown of Shiraz and furthering her education."

The doctors then talked to the twins' closest friends to know once again the wishes of Ladan and Laleh, and they were told that the twins wanted to be separated under all circumstances.


http://infopedia.nl.sg/articles/SIP_411_2005-01-27.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ladan_and_Laleh_Bijani

So, I conclude, they cannot be the case of "too attached to each other" because they wanted so much to be separated, even paying with their lives...

[Aurore]

While birds of similar karmic feathers flock together,
these birds can choose to fly in different directions too.
- Stonepeace

I don't think anyone would want to be stuck with each other and share the same body. Their minds are still each on their own while sharing the same shell.

Two might be reborn as conjoined twins due to strong physical attachment and strong similarities in karma.
- Stonepeace

A reason why the two minds share the same body (siamese twins) or look alike (twins) is a result of creating a similar karma in a previous life, together or not. They could be lovers, or good friends in past lives hence their ability to encounter each other in this life could well be a continuation of their past karmic affinity. Even some couples can have the same look which was believed that they are meant to be compatible but not all the time they will be.

Hence, the explanation of similar karma is very logical to me.

[Tammy]

I got the following information fr a healer's website... Interestingly, karma was mentioned throughout the article :

Short Description: Conjoined Twins
Conjoined Twins are a desperate reincarnation solution to heal the hate between chronic karmic enemies! The bodies of the twins are fused together physical to force them to deal with one another... every minute of every day.

Causes: Conjoined Twins used to be known as Siamese twins named after the first famous case, Chang and Eng, of Siam (now Thailand). They were joined at the chest by a band of fresh.

The karmic purpose of individuals reincarnating as Conjoined Twins is to break a long time pattern of being enemies in past lives. By being joined, the twins are forced to share the same life experience because they are sharing the same body.

There are many ways the twins can be conjoined by their bodies which effects the outcome of their time together.

Symptoms: Hate another individual too much and you both become candidates for being Conjoined Twins in the future. Far better to heal situations with karmic enemies by "loving your enemy as yourself" before things get out of control. Better to heal your karma with them now and keep yourself from being joined later.

The worse the hatred between the two people, the more enmeshed their bodies will be. Take the case of Ladan and Laleh Bijani. They were conjoined twin sisters, joined at the head (Cephalothoracopagus/Diprosopus), who died soon after surgical separation. These women were Iranian law graduates: it was Ladan who wanted to be a lawyer, while it was Laleh who wished to be a journalist.

The women had wanted to be separated since they were children because they were different in goals, interests, and temperaments. Their brains shared a major vein and were literally fused together. Most doctors had refused to separate them because the risks were too great. The women publicly declared that they would rather die than stay together. Of course, that is eventually what happened. The hate that they died with... will bring them back together in a future life. It was what caused them to be Conjoined Twins to begin with.

It is a karmic fact of life in the universe that "what you bring hate to, you will reincarnate into" at some point along your journey as soul. This is so because the goal of karma is to bring you to a state of unconditional love. As long as you are "cherishing hateful or unloving opinions" about any person or any group of people, you have set up your future life with that person and group.

After Effects: Today, the original Siamese twins could have been easily separated by surgery. Yet today's Conjoined Twins are becoming progressively more difficult to separate. Karma is fighting back by creating bodies where separation of surviving conjoined twins increasingly means death.

Consider that, at birth, only 25% of conjoined twins survive. Of those who can get a separation, there is 25% surgical survival rate. Of those who do survive the separation, the lifespan is not normal. From the overall good of society, the average $20 million cost of the surgery to separate a pair of conjoined twins can only be considered extravagant medical masturbation. This investment of medical resources would be better made in pre-natal care for the uninsured.

Advice: From a karmic standpoint, Conjoined Twins should only be separated when one of the twins is unlikely to live and so poses a threat to the stronger, viable twin. Otherwise, separating the Conjoined Twins defeats the karmic purpose of their reincarnating together inside the same joined body. This will just complicate their next life where the individuals will encounter each other again... under more desperate circumstances... with bodies even more enmeshed.

[buddhalovely]

The girls have beaten the odds and doctors' expectations to reach their milestone. It is believed there are only four sets of twins who share the same torso and have survived into adulthood. And they are on track to graduate from university, and hope to have a family of their own one day.


"We want to be mums, but haven’t thought how it would work," Abigail said. The girls passed their driving exams with two separate licenses and two separate tests. Abigail worked the pedals, and Brittany used the indicators and they both held the steering wheel.

 For Abigail and Brittany Hensel are conjoined, sharing one body fused at the torso. Each controls just one side of the body, and yet remarkably this has not prevented them leading a full, active and happy life.

Displaying an astonishing co- ordination which has stunned doctors, they play the piano -with Abigail taking the right-hand parts and Brittany the left - and enjoy sports such as bowling, volleyball, cycling, softball and swimming.

And on their 16th birthday they passed their driving test; a mind-boggling feat of teamwork with each twin using one arm to control the steering wheel. Brittany explains: 'Abby does the pedals and the gear shifter. I take over the blinkers and the lights. But she likes driving faster than me.'

[Big Uncle]

Sometimes, I think conjoined twins could be lovers joined together because they were lovers in a previous life and that they were very much attached to each other. Hence, they take rebirth together and their bodies are fused together because of attachment. It could also be enemies taken rebirth due to negative karma manifesting and they are locked together in a hate-love relationship with each other and there's no escape from each other. So the are together due to repulsion. It could be either way and I think it ain't easy to be stuck to each other. That's why the girls say they always fight.

[DS Star]

From the reply posts on this thread, seems like being born as conjoined twin is due very strong karmic connections of either one of the two extreme ends - "too attached" or "hate too much".

1. TOO ATTACHED

Two might be reborn as conjoined twins due to strong physical attachment and strong similarities in karma.
- Stonepeace

A reason why the two minds share the same body (siamese twins) or look alike (twins) is a result of creating a similar karma in a previous life, together or not. They could be lovers, or good friends in past lives hence their ability to encounter each other in this life could well be a continuation of their past karmic affinity.

2. HATE TOO MUCH

Conjoined Twins are a desperate reincarnation solution to heal the hate between chronic karmic enemies! The bodies of the twins are fused together physical to force them to deal with one another... every minute of every day...

The karmic purpose of individuals reincarnating as Conjoined Twins is to break a long time pattern of being enemies in past lives. By being joined, the twins are forced to share the same life experience because they are sharing the same body...

Hate another individual too much and you both become candidates for being Conjoined Twins in the future. Far better to heal situations with karmic enemies by "loving your enemy as yourself" before things get out of control. Better to heal your karma with them now and keep yourself from being joined later.

The worse the hatred between the two people, the more enmeshed their bodies will be. Take the case of Ladan and Laleh Bijani...

The women had wanted to be separated since they were children because they were different in goals, interests, and temperaments. Their brains shared a major vein and were literally fused together. Most doctors had refused to separate them because the risks were too great. The women publicly declared that they would rather die than stay together. Of course, that is eventually what happened. The hate that they died with... will bring them back together in a future life. It was what caused them to be Conjoined Twins to begin with.

Similar view from Russell's Remnant on 'Reap the Karma':

"At an impasse like this, one of the individuals must sacrifice themselves to the other person.  When this does not happen over several lifetimes, nature has a way of forcing the issue – it creates siamese twins of these two people.  Nature says that if you won’t learn one way, we will make you learn it another way.  These two haters are then linked so that they can never get away from each other.  They must learn to cooperate with each other in order to do the simplest acts.  They must live their lives by always having to be considerate of the other attached being.  They usually learn for that lifetime and learn to be kind to others and not hate. "

This bring us to another concern:

... separating the Conjoined Twins defeats the karmic purpose of their reincarnating together inside the same joined body. This will just complicate their next life where the individuals will encounter each other again... under more desperate circumstances... with bodies even more enmeshed.

Seems the doctors performing separation operation are actually meddling into the conjoined twin's karma and thus worsen their future lives. I guess this apply for both "too attached" and "hate too much" karma.

This view is very much similar to some religion fundamentalists' insistence that we should not try to alter "god's will" i.e. should not change what we are born with...

Wow... will there be serious repercussion for the doctors too, 'for playing God'?

And, thus this "not meddling into people's karma' also apply to other conditions like babies born blind, with deformed limps, clipped lip, etc.?  As such, all corrective operations also should not be done because that will alter these patients' karma as well...

What say you?

[dondrup]

Wow... will there be serious repercussion for the doctors too, 'for playing God'?

And, thus this "not meddling into people's karma' also apply to other conditions like babies born blind, with deformed limps, clipped lip, etc.?  As such, all corrective operations also should not be done because that will alter these patients' karma as well...

What say you?

Om Mani Padme Hum! How much and how long do these conjoined twins have to suffer before they could be free from their entanglements?  I believe it must be either their extremely strong attachment or aversion towards each other in their previous lives that had resulted in their present condition. The only way out is to apply the Buddhist practice of Four Opponent Powers to purify their heavy negative karma. To let nature take its natural course, their heavy negative karma may take more than a single life-time to clear!
 
Coming back to your question on meddling into people’s karma, I believe it depends on the motivation of the doctors who performed those corrective operations.  As part of their code of ethics, doctors have the duty and mission to help relieve others from their suffering. Hence, unless the doctors are unscrupulous, they are not ‘playing God’. 

Corrective operations do not change the karma that is ripening but they are the conditions for patients to change their future experiences.  If the patients applied the purification practices mentioned above, that will surely change and purify the karma.  With these purification practices and the corrective operations, the patients will definitely change their destinies.

[RedLantern]

The first conjoined twins are Chang and Eng of Thailand.The karmic purpose of individual reincarnating as conjoined twins is to break a long time of pattern of being enemies in past lives.By being joined the twins are forced to share the same life experience because the are sharing the same body.
The karmic fact of life in the universe that 'what you bring to,you will reincarnate into' at some point along your journey as soul. The goal of karma is to bring you to a state of unconditional love.Today's conjoined twins are becoming more progressively more difficult to separate.Karma is fighting back by creating bodies where separation of surviving conjoined twin increasingly means death.
From the karmic stand point,conjoined twin should only be separated  when one of the twin poses a threat to the stronger,viable twin.Otherwise,separating conjoined twins defeats the karmic purpose of their incarnating together inside the same joined body.This will just complicate their next life where the individuals will encounter each other again under more desperate circumstances.....with bodies even more enmeshed.