• Question: How do Siamese twins occur? Also, does it hurt the mother when they are born?

    Asked by to Aimee, Chris, Dave, Greig, Laurence on 20 Jun 2014. This question was also asked by .
    • Photo: Laurence Perreault Levasseur

      Laurence Perreault Levasseur answered on 20 Jun 2014:

      It happens a bit in the same way that identical twins happen. One single fertilized egg splits into two different embryos. Usually this can happen any time and it will just makes twins, but the longer this splitting happens after fertilization (that’s when the sperm from the dad meets the egg from the mom), the higher the chances it will make Siamese twins, or ‘conjoined twins’.

      One way they can form is if the twins split more than 12 days after fertilization, maybe the split isn’t complete and the twins stay tie together. Another possibility is that they first completely split, but then cells (more precisely stem cells) from one twin start to stick to the other, and vice versa, which makes them fuse together.

      Usually, Siamese twins are born by C-section. So they cut the belly of the mother (under anaesthesia!!) to let the babies out. That is usually a very safe surgery, and a lot of mothers have it when they give birth. I’ve never had it myself (I don’t have kids!!) so I don’t know how painful it is!

    • Photo: Aimee Hopper

      Aimee Hopper answered on 21 Jun 2014:

      Siamese twins are made when identical twins are formed in the uterus of the mother. The main difference is that the cell producing the two people doesn’t split properly, and so the babies developed attached to each other.

      Some people get their twin growing inside them!!! Which is pretty scary!

      And I would imagine that the mother would give birth via caesarian, to ensure the safest birth for the mother and the babies, and so it doesn’t hurt either of them

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