Same body, but with 2 souls.
The lives of conjoined twins have always been in the spotlight.
Some time ago, the famous American conjoined twins Abby and Brittany, because their sister is married, has triggered various conjectures about the sisters, their husbands, and their married lives.
Recently, another pair of American conjoined twins have also received public attention.
Sadly, this time, the media released an obituary.
American conjoined twins Lowry and George, died at the University of Pennsylvania Hospital on April 7 at the age of 62, September 18, 1961 – April 7, 2024.
Their lives are also very legendary.
For the 24 years after their birth, they spent the year in a psychiatric hospital, where their "scared and confused" parents placed them.
The twins became famous in 2007 when their sister George became the world's first transgender heterosexual conjoined twins when they became "them" and became "him" and "she" when their sister George revealed her male identity.
In 2022, it was considered by the Guinness Book of Records to be the oldest conjoined twin in the world.
The longest-lived conjoined twins, also from the United States, were brothers Ronald and Donald Lee Galyon, who died in 2020 at the age of 68.
He's a singer and she's a bowler
Lowry and George's conjoined condition is more twisted, they are conjoined twins of the skull, part of the head is fused, and they share 30% of the brain.
When they were born, the sisters were not favored and doctors thought they would not live to be 30 years old, but they performed miracles, living 62 years and 202 days, nine years older than the second-oldest female conjoined twins on record.
Because of their different developmental conditions, their physical conditions are also different.
Lowry is physically sound except for the head attached, but George was born with a spinal defect and cannot walk, so he can only sit in a special wheelchair, which is pushed by Lowry.
Before the gender change, George's original name was Dolly, and he changed his name after announcing the sex change in 2007, and his sister Lori was fully supportive of the change of identity.
In fact, George did not undergo sex reassignment surgery, but only identified as a man on a psychological level, and his dress and behavior were also men. The conjoined twins, combined with the combination of "one female and one male", suddenly made the twins household names and controversial.
Despite sharing part of their brains, they still maintain independent lives and excel in their respective fields.
George is a country singer, in the 90s, his sister Lori was just a laundresser in a hospital, and George has become famous and has been invited to perform in many countries, and Lori is accompanied by the world.
In the later years, Lowry also worked hard to become a very good bowler.
Desire to get married and have children: "Siamese people can also have a very private life!"
The question that conjoined twins must answer is, "Would you be willing to separate if you could?"
And their answer was unanimous: "We don't think we have a problem, so we will definitely not separate!"
At the same time, Lowry said: We can't be separated all the time together, but we can still have a very private life.
Indeed, the two people in reality have different personalities, different hobbies, and different lives.
In an apartment in Pennsylvania, there are 2 rooms, each of which is decorated to your heart's content.
The two take turns living every day, and the baths are also washed separately, one washing and one outside the station.
The two parties agreed that in George's room, everything was dominated by George, and Lowry did not express any opinion at all, as if he did not exist, and in turn, George would be transparent about himself in Lowry's room.
In particular, Lowry has expressed in the media more than once that she hopes to have a family of her own, with her own children and husband.
George agrees with this and is willing to cooperate unconditionally.
Lori had several boyfriends and was engaged, but unfortunately her fiancé died in a car accident.
When a reporter interviewed George, he asked: Would you feel embarrassed if Lowry got married? How would you deal with the intimacy between Lowry and her husband?
George said: "I would treat him as a brother-in-law, that's all, they can do whatever they want next to me, as if I didn't exist!"
George also joked: "Luckily we are connected face to face, so when they kiss, I can't see it! ”
At last
At this time, the cause of death of George and Lowry has not been disclosed.
Generally speaking, as long as one of the conjoined twins dies, there is a high probability that the other will also die.
It is because the "parts" of death produce toxins, and since the body is shared, the toxins are naturally shared, and the other half will die because of these toxins.
Unless you are sent to the hospital in time after being found and have split surgery immediately, you can hope to survive.
But the probability of survival is also very low, because conjoined babies with split conditions will have surgery when they are young, and the recovery will be better, and the body will basically be unable to bear it if they delay it to adulthood and then do splitting!