5 ms·
I actually find articles like this fairly upsetting to see. Presumably, it hits some nerve for me in terms of wanting to have a full and "normal" life in spite
by Mz 9y ago
I actually find articles like this fairly upsetting to see. Presumably, it hits some nerve for me in terms of wanting to have a full and "normal" life in spite of my genetic disorder. In some sense, I can pass for normal in a way that conjoined twins cannot. In another sense, no, I will never be normal. The degree of social friction I face over that fact is more problematic in some ways than the physical limitations.
Conjoined twins are so obviously and undeniably different that I just cringe at the idea of the social impact. It very much strikes me as "Hell is other people." I hope their social experience is more positive and supportive than I imagine.
A couple of dead comments suggest conjoined twins cannot have a sex life. So, I will just post this here:
Determined to live as normal a life they could, Chang and Eng settled on their small plantation and bought slaves to do the work they could not do themselves. Using their adopted name "Bunker", they married local women on April 13, 1843. Chang wed Adelaide Yates (1823-1917), while Eng married her sister, Sarah Anne (1822-1892). The twins also became naturalized American citizens.
The couples shared a bed built for four in their Traphill home. Chang and Adelaide would become the parents of twelve children. Eng and Sarah had ten. However, Chichester disputes this number of children, stating Eng had 11.[11] After a number of years, the sisters began to dislike each other[12] and separate households were set up west of Mount Airy, North Carolina in the town of White Plains. The brothers would alternately spend three days at each home.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chang_and_Eng_Bunker https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chang_and_Eng_Bunker
- mikestew 9y agoA couple of dead comments suggest conjoined twins cannot have a sex life. My wife and I were discussing that aspect just this morning as we discuss the young ladies in this article, what with Chang and Eng not letting it slow them down much. Given the age of the girls I find it a bit creepy to contemplate, but I’m curious what other pieces of anatomy are wired to both brains. Hopefully they work it out, and I suspect they will. I’m confident that the lives of Chang and Eng were not roses and unicorns, but if a couple of Asian guys can make a life for themselves in North Carolina in the 1800s, and conjoined twins to boot, I thinks these girls have a good shot. As a side note, “Siamese Twins” might be out of favor, but the term originates with Chang and Eng, who were from Thailand, formerly known as Siam.
- fastball 9y agoI feel like conjoined at the hip is a bit different from conjoined in the brain.
- Mz 9y agoThere are BDSM groups. There are people into polyamory. There are fetish groups. Given how many "normal" people are into "weird" sex, the idea that a handicapped person is somehow less entitled to a sexuality looks to me like pure prejudice.
- PhasmaFelis 9y agoPurely from a logistical perspective, I feel like joined-at-the-brain would be easier.
- fastball 9y agoYes, but logistical considerations weren't really my point. It's debatable whether these girls are one girl or two girls, from a personality / sense-of-self perspective. I personally could see myself being in a relationship with someone that had a conjoined twin. The only barriers are awkwardness and how much time I get to spend with them if the other twin has it's own SO/social life/etc. Conjoined at the brain is totally different. Are they two individuals? Are they one with different personalities? Are they the same personality with two different physical manifestations? I feel like it would just be so hard with our culture's concept of love and self. Does she love me? Do they love me? Does half of her hate me? It's just so mind-numbingly complicated.
- PhasmaFelis 9y ago> It's debatable whether these girls are one girl or two girls, from a personality / sense-of-self perspective. No it's not. They have externally distinguishable personalities, and they refer to themselves as separate people. I don't see any reason not to take their word for it. And even if they were one and a half people, I don't see the issue as long as all one-and-a-half of them are into it. And if they're not, it's not as if having conflicted feelings about someone is alien to normal human experience. It would certainly be an odd situation, but hardly insurmountable.