Conjoined Twins Reveal How They Navigate Their Personal Lives, Especially Relationships

Lupita and Carmen, who are conjoined twins, said that they don’t see themselves as being disabled and believe disability is only a state of mind. The sisters, who were only expected to survive for 3 days after they were born in 2002, have been told that their separation could result in their death or years of intensive care. So they chose to stay together and have expertly adapted to living each day with one another, even if that means navigating through life now that Carmen has a boyfriend.

When they were born, doctors didn’t give them any chance of survival.

The Andrade twins, Carmen (left) and Lupita (right), have a closer bond than most. When they were born in Mexico in 2002, they were conjoined from the chest to the pelvis, and doctors only gave them 3 days to live. The fact that they shared too many important organs and their lower spine led doctors to believe that they couldn’t safely separate them.

But it was also their decision.

Both of them refused when asked if they ever wanted to be separated because, even if the operation went well, they would still need to undergo years of physical therapy. “And then there’s the whole psychological situation because we’ve been so used to, like, being together,” Carmen said. “I don’t think there’d be a point.”

They share too many vital organs.

When talk of separation surgery came up, Lupita and Carmen asked their mother, “Why would you want to cut us in half?” The girls, who have lived in Connecticut since they were 2 years old, are joined along their chest walls all the way down to where their spines converge in the pelvis. They have only a single leg each, with Carmen controlling the other’s right, and Lupita, the other’s left. They each have 2 arms.

These days, Carmen is in love.

Carmen (left) and Lupita (right) answered people’s questions about their lives during a YouTube “Ask Me Anything.” Lupita said she doesn’t want any kind of romantic relationship, while Carmen said that she has been dating her boyfriend, Daniel, for about a year and a half. The couple met on the dating app, Hinge. According to Carmen, it was “really awkward” to say that she was a conjoined twin on her dating profile.

Although they are conjoined twins, they have different opinions about relationships.

In an interview, Carmen said that she was obviously going to be transparent about everything since dating was a “learning process for everybody.” When talking about her sister’s relationship, Lupita said, “I make fun of both of them.” Because Carmen is only 21 years old, she claimed that marriage is “not really in the front of my mind.”

Love has no obstacles. What do you think of Carmen’s love and Lupita’s reaction? Share your thoughts in the comments!