THAI sisters Pan (Charoonroj) and Pin (Charoonphan) Romphoyen love to play, eat ice cream, laugh, argue, fight and cry, just like any other nine-year-olds. They have their own separate hearts and their own dreams, but what makes them extraordinary is they share legs.

Pin and Pan are Siamese twins. Born joined at the waist, it is difficult for the sisters to stand and walk without assistance, so they have learned to crawl ‘crab-like’ by using the hands as support. Pin controls the right foot on her side, while her older sister, Pan, controls the left foot. Together, they move where they want to go.

The twins live with their grandparents in Nakhon Sawan province, some 240km from Bangkok. Although their bodies are connected, their personalities, looks and likes are different.

Pan loves her hair short, Pin always long, just one of the individual tastes the twins have, says Noknoi Pongchamnan, 43, their step-grandmother, who cares for the twins like their mother.

The girls have been educated at the Nakhon Sawan Panyanukul disadvantaged school and are now studying at Wat Wang Phai primary school. They are popular and loved by schoolmates and teachers, fully accepted for their differences. Helpful in coping with school activities is a home-made walker, which also helps them when they need to go a longer distance.

Every day, Noknoi takes them to school on the back of her motorbike and picks them up in the afternoon. They do homework and help with some housework, before going out to ride their tricycle and play around with neighbourhood friends.

The family is supported by Nakhon Sawan Panyanukul disadvantaged school with housing, and earn a small income from selling food and beverages in the school. Other income comes from charity organisations and private donations.

A doctor advised the family of an operation to separate the twins, but it is one of high risk. Both Pin and Pan say they want to stay together.

Conjoined twins, who are physically connected and joined in utero, are an extremely rare phenomenon, with figures of one in every 50,000 to 200,000 live births. According to the Maryland College of Medicine, about 40% to 60% of these are stillborn and only 35% live for a day. – September 10, 2018.