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"  Thanks, bub \u2014 nothing like starting off the column with something kicky and carefree. Oh, and by the way, the term of choice here is &amp;quot;conjoined&amp;quot; twins. They came to be called Siamese twins because circus impresario P. T. Barnum put Chang and Eng Bunker in his 19th-century freak show, and the Bunker boys were born in Siam, now called Thailand \u2014 just as the freak show is now known as &amp;quot;reality TV.&amp;quot; To your question, Dr. Eric Strauch, a pediatric surgeon at the University of Maryland Hospital for Children, says simply, &amp;quot;They die.&amp;quot; Once the dead twin&amp;#039;s heart stops, he adds, the &amp;quot;blood stops pumping, the vessels dilate, and the conjoined twin will essentially bleed into the dead twin. If that doesn&amp;#039;t happen acutely \u2014 say it&amp;#039;s a small connection \u2014 there will be an infection in a matter of hours. If surgeons are there when the [first twin] dies, then it&amp;#039;s possible to do the surgery and save [the other]. I don&amp;#039;t think anyone&amp;#039;s ever done that \u2014 if they were separable before that, separation usually was attempted.&amp;quot; It&amp;#039;s worth noting that Dr. Strauch himself has performed such separation surgery, and that modern medicine almost certainly could have separated the Bunkers fairly easily \u2014 they were joined at the sternum. Chang died in his sleep; Eng died three hours later. They married sisters and are jointly credited with originating the phrase, &amp;quot;She&amp;#039;s so ugly, I wouldn&amp;#039;t bang her with your cock.&amp;quot; Contact AF anytime at answerfella@esquire.com.   RELATED LINKS:  Dr. Oz on the Bloodless Future of Surgery Why Do Koreans Think Electric Fans Will Kill Them?  PLUS: Find More Answers to Your Questions in the &amp;quot;Answer Fella&amp;quot; Archive   "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/q-and-a/a6223/conjoined-twins-separated-0909/>