Conjoined Twins 1940s

A look at 43 sets of conjoined twin births reported during the 1940s (29 sets of girls, 6 sets of boys, 8 sets of unknown gender and 1 alleged boy/girl set). Cases are shown in chronological order.

Rare parapagus dibrachius tripus twins are born to the Hickman family of Wisconsin on September 22, 1940. During their three days of life, the twins are photographed for a series of postcards, which are sold to curiosity seekers.

Thoracopagus twin girls are born to Mr. and Mrs. S.W. Kuhner of Marion, Ohio on September 25, 1941, and survive for only ten minutes.

Thoracopagus twins Joanna and Vincenza Picciotto are born to an Italian-American couple, Jessie and Carmine Picciotto, at St. Vincent's Hospital, Staten Island, on February 26, 1942. Daisy and Violet Hilton, the famous conjoined twins of vaudeville, learn of the birth and write a letter to the hospital, begging doctors not to separate the infant girls. Unfortunately, Joanna and Vincenza pass away just thirty hours after birth.

Pygopagus twin sisters Judith Ann and Janet Mary are born to Mr. and Mrs. Floyd Sabers of New Vienna, Iowa, on July 21, 1942. Both twins die on December 7, 45 minutes apart, from "disturbance of nutrition".

Conjoined twins of unknown type and gender are born to the Dochtler family of North Dakota on November 5, 1942. Both die at birth.

Twin boys joined at the hips (ischiopagus or pygopagus) are born to Clara Mack of Orange, Texas on April 29, 1943. Doctors in nearby Beaumont evaluate the boys for possible separation surgery.

An early success story in surgical removal of a parasitic twin comes from October, 1943, when Dr. Henry Meyerding of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., amputates an epigastric parasite from 12-year-old Ernie Defort of Winnipeg. Ernie and his twin, named Len, had been circus and carnival attractions until the operation. Pictures of "Ernie-Len" can be found here.

Thoracopagus twin girls are born to the Pollard family of Iowa on March 11, 1944, but survive only half an hour.

Ischiopagus tripus twins Sandra and Joyce Stierly are born to 24-year-old widow Mary Stierly in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, on April 30, 1944. One girl is much smaller than the other and has poor circulation, which ultimately causes their deaths six days later.

Louise and Micaila Miranda are born to Jesus and Rita Miranda of Coldwater, Arizona on August 25, 1945. Both pass away simultaneously on September 9.

An English mother, wife of an American soldier, gives birth to dicephalus dibrachius twin girls in Birmingham on January 2, 1946. Doctors report that the babies cry and eat at different times and have been X-rayed to determine if they have separate stomachs, and that one is more vigorous than the other. They survive for just 50 hours.

Thoracopagus twins Mary and Martha are born March 7, 1946, to Glenora Husbands and Cephas Thompson, both 19, in the village of Weston in the Caribbean island nation of Barbados. As of March 20, the twins are still living and have attracted curiosity seekers from all over the island to their parents' home.

The wife of a Washington lumberman, Mary Hurse, 26, gives birth in Oregon to ischiopagus tetrapus twins on May 7, 1946. Sisters Carol and Susan Hurse survive only a week and pass away 25 minutes apart on May 14.

Thoracopagus twin girls are born to Mr. and Mrs. William Augur of New Haven, Connecticut on June 1, 1946, but both die just a few hours after birth.

Triplet girls, two of whom are thoracopagus twins, are born prematurely to Ethel and Louis Steakley of Corona, California, on July 16, 1946. The twins are stillborn, while the third baby is given only a slim chance of survival and passes away ten hours after birth. The family donates the bodies of the triplets to the College of Medical Evangelists in Loma Linda with the hopes that doctors can learn how to help other conjoined twins.

Conjoined twins "joined at the base of the bodies, but...perfectly normal from the waist up" (ischiopagus or parapagus) are born on a farm 20 miles from Pietersberg, North Transvaal, South Africa in September of 1946 but survive only a short while.

Twins joined at the abdomen are born to Mr. and Mrs. R.A. Ainsworth of Klondike, Texas, on October 16, 1946, but survive only a short while.

Omphalopagus twins are born to Mrs. Evelina Chiara Desli, 42, of Florence, Italy on November 23, 1946. One sister dies at birth and they are separated in order to save the other.

Stillborn conjoined twin girls are delivered three months prematurely to an unnamed mother at Deaconess Hospital in Spokane, Washington on December 23, 1946.

Carolyn Martin of Michigan is separated from her stillborn twin sister, to whom she is joined at the buttocks, in 1947.

Stillborn thoracopagus twin girls are born to the Oxford family of Illinois on January 3, 1947.

Thoracopagus twin girls, sharing an umbilical cord but evidently with separate hearts and lungs, are born to a Native woman in Dunnottar, East Rand, South Africa, on January 31, 1947. The mother is in an ambulance on the way to the hospital when the twins are born. They are taken to a hospital but both pass away on February 1 or 2.

Thoracopagus twin girls are born to the Galbraith family of England on July 27, 1947. They survive for five days.

Ischiopagus twin girls are born to Mrs. Harding Brown, wife of a WWII veteran, of Pinedale, Wyoming on August 24, 1947, and survive for two days. The father, when informed of their death, says "It is for the best."

Conjoined twin girls are born in Offenburg, near Baden Baden, West Germany, on November 22, 1947, but survive only a short while.

Craniopagus twin boys are born to Mr. and Mrs. Edward Speer of Bedford, Indiana, on November 29, 1947. They are rejected by their parents, who say "We don't want to see them if we don't have to" and plead to have the twins placed in an institution. Doctors determine that the boys cannot be separated and both pass away on Christmas Day, about one hour apart.

Stillborn conjoined twins are born to the Estrella family of the Philippines on December 5, 1947. The newspapers report that the twins are one boy and one girl.

Twin girls "joined at the hip" (ischiopagus or pygopagus) with an omphalocele are born to Mr. and Mrs. Charles Sims of Jefferson City, Missouri, on January 6, 1948, and survive for just one hour.

Rare cephalopagus twins with one stomach are born to an unnamed Mexican-American mother at St. Mary's Hospital, Gallup, New Mexico on January 30, 1948. The twins, of unknown gender, survive only 15 minutes.

Craniopagus twins, united at the forehead, are born in Gallipolli, southern Italy, on February 18, 1948. A March 18 report confirms that they are still living one month later.

Thoracopagus twin girls are born to Mr. and Mrs. J.P. Mikles of Booneville, Arkansas on June 5, 1948, and survive for one day.

Ischiopagus twin girls are born to Mrs. Robert Rick, 25, of Holt, Michigan on September 5, 1948. The attending physician, Dr. Thomas Spaulding, says the girls cannot be separated and both pass away on September 13.

Stillborn omphalopagus or thoracopagus twin boys are born to Eddie and Emma Bradley of Bragg, Alabama, in December of 1948.

Conjoined sisters Gladys Yvonne and Mary Yvette McCarther are born to Willa McCarther in Los Angeles on May 14, 1949. The sisters are conjoined at the top of the head but have separate brains. They stay in the hospital for several months while surgeons evaluate them for the possibility of separation. When it is determined that they cannot be separated, their mother takes them home. Faced with an enormous hospital bill, Mrs. McCarther has no choice but to place her daughters on exhibition with Royal American Shows. With their sideshow earnings, she is able to pay the hospital bill and also pay for a private tutor to educate the girls, since they are forbidden to attend school because of their condition. She is told that Yvonne and Yvette will be mentally handicapped and that they will never learn to walk, but the bright, energetic twins defy expectations on both counts. In their 20s, Yvonne and Yvette forge a unique career as gospel singers. Later, they move out of their mother's home into an apartment and enter community college with the intention of earning nursing degrees. Sadly, the sisters pass away on December 15, 1992, just before earning their degrees. Mrs. McCarther declines an autopsy, but the cause of death is believed to be Yvette's congenital heart defect. The twins' nursing degrees are awarded posthumously.

In South Africa, Mrs. Derby gives birth to stillborn omphalopagus girls in 1949.

Conjoined twins with two heads and three legs are born in Frankfurt to an unidentified 27-year-old German mother on January 4, 1949, but survive only an hour.

Deborah Kay and Marsha Mae Larson are born in Mt. Vernon, Illinois on January 19, 1949. The omphalopagus twin sisters are separated the following day when one girl dies, but the other also passes away less than a day later.

An unidentified 29-year-old mother gives birth to premature thoracopagus twins weighing just two pounds and six ounces at Radford, Virginia. The twins pass away soon after birth.

Thoracopagus twin girls are born two months prematurely to an unidentified 19-year-old mother at Princeton, West Virginia, on March 12, 1949. The twins are stillborn.

Dicephalus tribrachius twin girls are born in Dortmund, Germany, on April 18, 1949. Their mother dies in childbirth. Doctors at Frankfurt-am-Main urge authorities to allow them to euthanize the girls because they survive longer than expected and cannot, according to their caretakers, ever have "psychologically normal" lives.

Pygopagus twin girls are born April 26, 1949, to Mr. and Mrs. Melvin Glover of Owensboro, Kentucky. They are separated the following day with the hopes of saving only one sister, but the chosen survivor lives for just eight hours after the surgery.

Nicaragua's first recorded set of conjoined twins, Juan and Jose Trinidad, are born joined at the abdomen to Evarista and Cruz Trinidad of Diria, near Managua, on June 14, 1949.

Conjoined twin boys are born July 10, 1949, to the Howe family of Kansas. They survive less than a day.

Thoraco-omphalopagus twins with conjoined hearts, Brenda and Beverly Townsend, are born to Betty and Bud Townsend of Tofield, Alberta on November 17, 1949. Sadly, both girls pass away during separation surgery on May 15, 1950. Mrs. Townsend accepts the tragedy with religious stoicism, telling Monessen Daily Independent reporters that "God's ways are best."

[Back to Chronological Timeline of Conjoined Twins Timeline]