Conjoined Twins - 1980's

A look at the 109 births and separation surgeries (83 sets of girls, 23 sets of boys, 2 sets of unknown gender) we saw reported on the Web during the decade of the 1980s. Cases are shown in chronological order:

A curious case is reported here in the Russian newspaper, Pravda, in 2005: twins Corneliy and Radu Papesku are born in Bucharest, Romania, in 1980, ischiopagus twins with only one set of male organs. When the twins are surgically separated, the male organs are assigned to Corneliy. However, Corneliy grows up to be transgender and seeks a sex change, and his male organs are transplanted onto Radu. This story has not been verified by other sources.

Conjoined twin girls are born to the Shoemaker family of Ohio in January of 1980 and undergo separation the same month. They also have a fraternal triplet brother born at the same time.

Caroline and Christine Obermaier are born in Chicago, Illinois, on January 3, 1980, conjoined at the back of the head. Separation is attempted on June 11, but both sisters die of blood loss, 30 minutes apart.

Omphalopagus twin girls are born to the Espírito family of the Philippines on January 23, 1980. The sisters die soon after birth.

Ivonne Elizabeth and Ivette Elizabeth Morales are born to Evelyn and Elaido Morales of Puerto Rico on February 3, 1980. The sisters are conjoined at the chest and share a single heart. On February 28 they are surgically separated at Texas Children's Hospital in Houston. One sister dies in surgery while the other dies about three hours later.

Fonda Michelle and Shannon Elaine Beaver are born to a 14-year-old mother in North Carolina on February 9, 1980. Dicephalus tetrabrachius twins, they are separated on January 9, 1981.

Dicephalus twin girls who share a heart are born May 1, 1980, at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center. They are given a poor prognosis and both pass away on May 3.

Pygopagus twins Natalie Renee and Valerie Renee Wackler are born to Rebecca and Randy Wackler of Piqua, Ohio on June 17, 1980. The girls are separated in an emergency operation on November 14 after Valerie suffers brain death.

Thoracopagus twin girls are born in Quezon, Philippines, in August of 1980. They are determined soon after birth to share a heart and liver.

Kau Ling-Ling and Kau Ying-Ying are born in Malaysia on August 5, 1980. Ischiopagus tetrapus twins, the sisters are separated on March 5, 1981. Ying-Ying dies of unknown causes on September 24, 1998. The sisters are also known as Siew Leng and Siew Fah.

Omphalopagus twin girls are born to the Li family of Taiwan on December 6, 1980.

Twin boys Ndomba and Piami are born in Zaire in 1981 and undergo separation in Belgium in December of 1981. Both twins initially survive but one dies a few years later.

Dicephalus twins sisters with one heart, named Ana and Maria, are born in Bulgaria in January of 1981 and pass away on April 12.

Thoracopagus twins Samantha Dawn and Marie Lynn Self are born to teenage parents in Tennessee on January 19, 1981. Conjoined at the heart, the girls have a poor prognosis but separation is attempted on January 25. Sadly, both sisters die.

Stillborn omphalopagus or ischiopagus twin girls are born to the Som family of Malaysia on February 15, 1981.

There were several reports of conjoined twins born in Vietnam following the use of Agent Orange during the Vietnam War, including the story of ischiopagus tripus twin brothers, Nguygen Viet and Nguygen Duc, born near Plateau de Kontum in southern Vietnam on February 25, 1981. Connected at the hip, and sharing some internal organs, the twins were surgically separated on October 4, 1988 at Tu Du Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City, two years after Viet had survived a critical brain disease. Today, Duc is a healthy young man and has recently gotten married, while Viet has suffered severe brain damage and still lives in full-time care.

Lisa and Laura Grisham are born to Mary Fay Grisham, 25, of Murfreesboro, Tennessee on April 8, 1981. Joined at the chest and sharing a heart, they unfortunately only live for three days.

Maria Stella and Maria Celia Sido are born conjoined in the Philippines on April 16, 1981.

Ischiopagus or parapagus tripus twins Scott and Jeff Mueller are born to nurse Pamela Schopp and her husband Dr. Robert Mueller Danville, Illinois, on May 5, 1981. The twins are described by the papers as "badly deformed" and a controversy erupts when Dr. Mueller instructs caretakers at the hospital to withhold food and water from the babies and allow them to die. The charges against the parents are dropped due to insufficient evidence and the boys are separated on July 19, 1982. Scott passes away from a congenital heart defect in February of 1985.

Omphalopagus twin girls are born to the Wu family of China in June of 1981.

Thoracopagus twin girls are born to the Clavenger family of Illinois on June 17, 1981 and survive for one week.

Omphalopagus twins Deanna and Dianna Simpson are born in North Carolina on July 9, 1981 and separated in Boston at the age of three days. Deanna succumbs on November 7.

Conjoined sisters Veronica and Madalena are born in Italy on July 22, 1981, and survive for just six days.

Thoraco-omphalopagus twin girls Nicole and Colette are born in California on August 12, 1981. An attempt is made to separate them on June 28, 1982, but both pass away.

Jeannette and Jillian Barcena and a non-conjoined triplet sister, Jacklyn, are born in Texas on September 24, 1981. No attempt is made to separate the twins, who share a heart, and they succumb exactly one month after birth.

Thoracopagus twin girls are born in New York on December 7, 1981. They are separated on December 8, but one dies in surgery and the other dies the following day.

In Malaysia, twin girls Nita and Niza Selani are born conjoined at the chest on December 22, 1981, and undergo separation on April 10, 1982.

Omphalopagus twin girls named Thiva and Ratree are born in Thailand in January of 1982 and undergo separation on June 17.

Conjoined twins of unknown gender or type are born to the Jurgensen family of Illinois on January 5, 1982. Both twins die soon after birth.

On March 2, 1982, Emily and Francesca Selvaggio are born conjoined together. They are separated in a 10-hour, 22-person surgery conducted at Johns Hopkins Children's Center in Baltimore, that prestigious institution's first successful separation. A more recent update indicates that Francesca is a successful college student but that her twin sister suffers from a very serious form of cerebral palsy.

In Texas, triplets are born to the Fitzhugh family on April 24, 1982. Two of the babies are thoracopagus twins, who survive for just two days.

Olga and María del Pilar Hernández are born in Colombia on July 13, 1982. The sisters are born joined at the abdomen.

On July 19, 1982, María and Carmen Garcia Pietá are born in the Dominican Republic. The thoracopagus twins share a single heart and liver and are taken to Massachusetts General Hospital for evaluation, where it is determined that they cannot be separated. Both pass away on August 11.

Htut Lin and Htut Win are born in rural Myanmar (formerly Burma) in August of 1982. The twin boys are joined side-by-side with four arms, three legs, and one set of male genitalia. In 1984, the two-year-old brothers are taken to Toronto, Canada, to be separated. Because the Htut case coincides with "nature vs. nurture" debates regarding gender socialization, the boys' surgeons choose to test their hypothesis by making one of the boys into a girl. Smaller, but more vigorous, Lin is chosen to receive the penis and one testicle, while larger but milder-mannered Win is castrated and given a controversial procedure called a sigmoid vaginoplasty, which is sometimes chosen by transsexual women and involves creating a vagina out of a segment of large intestine. Win receives female hormones during his stay at the Toronto hospital but is unable to obtain hormone therapy in Myanmar. He decides at the age of five that he was meant to be a boy, and appears dressed as a boy when he returns to Toronto for follow-up care. Now, Win identifies as male but is legally considered a woman by the Myanmar government and has not been able to obtain reconstructive surgery to give him male anatomy. Lin also identifies as male and is happily married to a woman.

In 1983, pygopagus twin girls named Gayatari and Gargi are born in India and are separated at four months.

Brenda Ivon and Miriam Araceli Hernández are born in Texas to a family from Mexico on March 20, 1983. The omphalopagus twins are successfully separated on March 31 in El Paso.

In April of 1983, doctors in Alessandria, Italy successfully separate conjoined twin girls born in Moncalieri, near Turin.

Omphalopagus twin girls are born to the Walker family of Florida on July 1, 1983.

Ischiopagus tetrapus brothers Tamás and Bálint Bíró are born in Hungary in October of 1983 and separated in Munich in 1985.

Krista and Klare King are born in Colorado on November 17, 1983. The sisters share a single heart and sadly only survive for three days.

Thoracopagus twin girls are born to 26-year-old Janet Clarke at Victoria Jubilee Hospital in Jamaica on December 6, 1983, along with a non-conjoined triplet brother. The sisters are flown to Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children for evaluation for possible separation surgery, but return to Jamaica with their mother after it is determined that they share an abnormal heart. Both girls die on February 22, 1984.

Craniopagus twin brothers Devon Montez and Jevan Shontez Wilson are born in Illinois on January 1, 1984, and undergo separation on April 15.

Claire Elizabeth and Emily Lou Taylor are born in Madison, Wisconsin, on February 14, 1984. Ischio-omphalopagus twins, they are separated at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia by Dr. James O'Neill on June 18 with both surviving.

Twin girls born conjoined at the top of the head, Ashley and Patricia, are born in California on March 9, 1984, and separated in a 32-hour operation at the University of Utah Medical Center in September of 1984.

Ruthie and Verena Cady are born to a Colorado family on April 13, 1984, joined at the chest and sharing a three-chambered heart. Separation is quickly ruled out and the twins are not expected to live long. However, they defy the odds and survive to the age of seven, attending school learning to skate and ride a tricycle and taking gymnastics classes. The happy little girls are profiled by People magazine in 1989 and again in 1990. On June 18, 1991, they pass away from pneumonia, fifteen minutes apart. They are the longest-lived thoracopagus twins in history.

Twin girls born conjoined at the heart are born in Texas on April 18, 1984. They undergo separation on April 23 and one twin is purposely sacrificed, but sadly the survivor, Emily, also succumbs on June 25.

Thoracopagus twin boys with a six-chambered heart, Dan and Doug, are born in Missouri to a family from Illinois on April 22, 1984. No attempt is made to separate them and both pass away on May 8.

Conjoined twin sisters are born in the United States in the upper midwest on June 12, 1984. The omphalopagus twins are successfully separated at the age of 12 days.

Alma and Ashley Petry are born conjoined at the abdomen in Texas on November 26, 1984 and separated at the age of 2 days. The operation is initially hailed as a success, but Alma sadly passes away on July 25, 1985.

LaTrease and Sharease Morgan are born in New Jersey on December 28, 1984. The omphalopagus twins undergo successful separation in Philadelphia on July 8, 1985.

Also on December 28, 1984, craniopagus twin boys, David and Fausto are born in Italy. They are separated on May 9, 1985, but both die in surgery.

In 1985, thoraco-omphalopagus twin sisters Kayna and Leslie Thumma are born in California and undergo successful separation at the age of three months.

Thoracopagus twin boys are born on January 2, 1985, at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Florida. They share a heart and both pass away on January 10.

Mark and Michael Morris, conjoined by a narrow band at the breastbone, are born in Louisiana on January 4, 1985. The brothers are successfully separated four days later.

Ischiopagus tetrapus twins Shiva and Meera Ramkhalawan are born to a Hindu family in Trinidad on January 20, 1985. The twins have no external genitalia and are therefore assumed to be girls and given feminine names; however, when they are separated at Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children on October 26, they are discovered to be male and Meera's name is changed to the masculine Heera.

Pygopagus twins Carmen and Teresa are born in Papua New Guinea on February 13, 1985, and separated in Spain on April 16. The surgery is initially successful, but Teresa dies on April 21.

Claudio and Adriano Palmeri are born in Italy on February 21, 1985. The ischiopagus tripus twin brothers are separated two days later, but both die.

Thoracopagus twins, Carly and Holly Reich, are born to a Texas family living in England on March 1, 1985, and separated at the age of two days. Sadly, Carly dies six weeks after surgery, but Holly is now a healthy young woman living in Texas.

On March 14, 1985, twins Elizabeth and Rebecca are born in at Minden Medical Center in Minden, Louisiana. The sisters have separate heads and brains but share a body below the neck, with each girl's brain controlling her respective half of their body. Doctors decide against trying to separate them.

Karol and Karen Jiménez Arias are born in Costa Rica on April 5, 1985. An attempt to separate the omphalopagus twin sisters in September ends with the deaths of both.

Thoracopagus twin girls sharing a heart and kidneys are born in Roanoke, Virginia, to an unnamed 29-year old mom on August 14, 1985. The girls, born 11 weeks premature and with underdeveloped lungs, are flown immediately after birth to Philadelphia Children's Center for treatment, but given a poor prognosis and both pass away on September 15.

Christin and Charla Bouranis, omphalopagus twins, are born in Massachusetts on September 22, 1985, and separated at the age of three days.

In Jamaica, Latonia Elecia Morris is surgically separated from her stillborn twin sister at birth on October 8, 1985. The twins had been conjoined at the hips. Latonia suffers some lasting orthopedic difficulties but today is otherwise a healthy and typical young woman.

Xiphopagus twins Blanca and Rosa are born in Spain on November 20, 1985, and successfully separated in December.

Kellie Lynne and Kimberly Dawn Peterman are born to Keith and Sharon Peterman of Goreville, Illinois on March 24, 1986. Joined at the chest and abdomen, they are separated on July 10 and Kellie dies of blood loss the following day. Skin grafts are taken from Kellie after her death and used to help close the surgical wound on Kimberly, but despite these efforts, Kimberly succumbs on November 10.

Ciara and Tiara Simpson are born in Missouri on March 31, 1986. Conjoined at the chest and sharing a heart, the sisters pass away on May 2.

Liao Shi-Chueh of Taiwan is reported as the sole survivor of an April 23, 1986, operation to separate her from her conjoined twin. She had been born on April 9, a parapagus twin sharing a single pair of legs with her sister.

Ciera and Tiera Bennett are born to Lisa Dempsey of Maryland on April 20, 1986. Omphalopagus twins, they are successfully separated on June 22.

Dicephalus dibrachius twin boys, Jesús and Pedro Fuenmayor de Martinez, are born to Ligia Fuenmayor and Isidro Martinez in Ciudad Bolivar, Venezuela on April 29, 1986. The boys share a heart and only survive for a few days.

Omphalopagus twin boys are born to the Lei family of China on May 9, 1986, and undergo successful separation on June 6.

Ischio-omphalopagus twin brothers Hassan and Hussein Saleh are born to a Sudanese family in England on August 1, 1986, and separated in London on August 30, 1987. Today the boys each use an artificial leg but are otherwise healthy and active. Profiled in a 2002 documentary, Joined: The Secret Lives of Siamese Twins, the twins say they are glad to have been separated but still sleep curled up together as though still conjoined.

Danny and Kenny Chappelle of Louisiana are born on August 26, 1986. Xiphopagus twins, they are successfully separated on October 10.

Thoracopagus twin girls with one heart are born in the Gaza Strip to the al-Mansi family on October 23, 1986.

Thoracopagus twin girls with one heart, Katie and Amy Parrett, are born in Bristol, England on December 3, 1986, and survive for just three days.

Omphalopagus twin sisters Charla Faith and Hope Noel Cox are born to Charles and Natalie Cox of Stillwater, Oklahoma on December 23, 1986, and successfully separated the next day.

Libyan twins Hassan and Salem are born conjoined at the head in 1987. The boys are surgically separated in Vienna, Austria on July 28, 1990, but both die.

Also in 1987, Indian twin girls named Choti and Moti are born conjoined at the abdomen and separated on March 21, 1988.

Parapagus tripus twin sisters Yue Jinbao and Yue Jinxue are born in China in 1987 and undergo separation on January 22, 1988.

Allison and Samantha Farrar are born in Illinois in 1987 and undergo separation in August of 1987. They are ischiopagus or omphalopagus twins.

Vietnamese twin brothers Son and Pha are born conjoined at the abdomen on February 2, 1987, and separated May 17, 1987.

Jessica and Justine Collins are born in Indiana on February 3, 1987. Joined at the chest, they both sadly pass away on April 9.

April and Julie Cline are born in California on April 1987. Joined at the abdomen, they are successfully separated on April 28.

Thoraco-omphalopagus twin boys with one heart are born in the United Arab Emirates on May 23, 1987, but survive for only a week.

On May 25, 1987, dicephalus dibrachius twin boys, Brendan and Peter Uren, are born in Australia but survive only a short while.

Vilija and Vitalija Tamulevičius are born in Lithuania on May 27, 1987, conjoined at the side of the head. They are separated in Moscow on July 6, 1989, one of the first fully successful surgeries on craniopagus twins. Later, the sisters undergo reconstructive surgery at the World Craniofacial Foundation in Dallas.

Pristian Yuliani and Pristian Yuliana are born in Indonesia on July 31, 1987. The craniopagus twin sisters are joined by a very small section of skull and are separated without complications on October 21.

Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore performs a delicate separation surgery on West German twins, Patrick and Benjamin Binder on September 6, 1987. The 22-hour surgery separates the two eight-month-old boys who were joined at the backs of their heads. The boys have numerous post-surgery complications but do survive. Incidentally, this surgery is believed to be the first successful separation of conjoined twins connected at the back of the head and was led by Dr. Ben Carson, Sr., a pioneer in brain surgery techniques.

Thalia and Ashleigh Timms are born September 17, 1987, in Australia to a family from New Zealand. The omphalopagus twin sisters undergo successful separation one day after birth.

Thoraco-omphalopagus twin girls are born September 22, 1987, to the Sánchez de Leiva family of El Salvador.

Thoracopagus twin sisters Nosipho and Siphokazi Qakamba are born in South Africa on November 16, 1987, and separated in January of 1988. Nosipho dies on January 14.

Craniopagus twin girls are born in Virginia in December of 1987. One sister is stillborn and the twins are separated in order to save the other.

Thoracopagus twin girls are born to the Triego family of Mexico on December 2, 1987, but both die at birth.

In 1988, pygopagus twin girls Chidinma and Chioma, along with a non-conjoined triplet sister Chiamaka, are born, and undergo separation at the age of 2 months.

Mothoana Hlalele, a month-old former conjoined twin, dies on January 15, 1988. She had been born conjoined to her sister, who died in surgery, at the chest on December 13, 1987, and separated at the age of two days.

Mar Fong-Yee and Mar Fong-Yin are born in Malaysia on January 18, 1988. The sisters, joined at the chest, are surgically separated on July 17.

Separation is attempted on day-old pygopagus twins Amy and Ilene Brantner of Minnesota on March 16, 1988. Sadly, both twins succumb.

Another breakthrough separation surgery took place in South Africa in May of 1988 when conjoined twins Mpho and Mphonyana Mathibela ("Gift" and "Little Gift") are separated after being born joined together at the head. It is the first such operation attempted in South Africa. Mphonyana suffers extensive blood loss during the operation and finally succumbs in 1990. Mpho is mildly retarded and hemiplegic (paralyzed in one side of her body), and can no longer attend school because of the family's financial situation.

A pair of ischio-omphalopagus tripus twin boys, Andrew and Alex Olson, born in Elk Point, South Dakota in 1987, are successfully separated in surgery performed at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha on April 22-23, 1988. Despite physical disabilities, the twin boys lead normal lives as teenagers.

Conjoined sisters Geraldine and Franca Todesca are born in Italy in March of 1988 and both pass away on March 25.

Rare dicephalus twins are born in Ireland on July 1, 1988. Katie and Eilish Holton are separated on April 1, 1992, at Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital in London. The Holton twins were born with four arms, two of which were fused from the shoulder to the elbow (the Hensels had a third arm removed from between their heads as infants) and undergo a 15-hour operation under the care of 25 doctors. Katie dies of heart problems four days after surgery, while Eilish survives and now uses an artificial leg to move around.

Omphalopagus twin boys, Wang Yu Shou and Wang Yu Shuan, are born in Taiwan on September 1, 1988, and undergo separation on September 26.

Ischio-omphalopagus tripus twin boys, Diamonto and Theano, are born on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus on September 23, 1988, but both die.

Omphalopagus twin sisters Danielle and Rachel Susnig, along with a non-conjoined triplet sister, Monique, are born in Australia on October 14, 1988, and are successfully separated one day after birth.

Thoraco-omphalopagus twin sisters are born in the United Arab Emirates on November 21, 1988, and separated at the age of 3 months. One twin dies in surgery, while the other dies two months later.

Conjoined twin sisters Franciska and Teresa are born in Indonesia in 1989.

Ischiopagus twin sisters Giselly and Gercilane are born in Brazil in 1989 and are surgically separated.

In Malaysia, sisters Ngu Liang Shyuan and Ngu Liang Yau are born in December of 1988 and undergo separation on May 28, 1989.

Alberto and Roberto Hernández are born in Texas in May of 1988. The rare pygopagus twin brothers are successfully separated on May 3, 1989.

Thoracopagus twin sisters Tanika Renee and Nekita Janay Thomas are born in Frederick, Maryland on November 13, 1988. Sadly, they only survive for eleven days.

Thoracopagus twins are born to the Sithole family of South Africa in 1989 and survive for only three months.

Twins with a single heart, Hannah and Katie Lovie are born in 1989 in Scotland, and survive for only a few hours.

In South Africa, Thandiwe and Thandeka Dlada are born joined at the head on January 5, 1989.

Thoracopagus twin girls with one heart are born to the Zhang family of China on February 17, 1989.

Thoracopagus twins Melanie and Elizabeth Foley are born in Australia on December 31, 1989 and separated on January 11, 1990. Both initially survive, but Melanie succumbs on June 25.

[Back to Chronological Timeline of Conjoined Twins Timeline]