Conjoined twins have revealed their incredibly unique lifestyle and what it’s really like to live in the same body – as they hit back at strangers who bombard them with mean questions about their lives.
As conjoined twins, Carmen and Lupita Andrade, 23, are as close as two sisters can be, and they recently opened up about that bond during a very candid Q&A video shared to their social media accounts.
The twins, who moved to the U.S. from Mexico when they were two and now live in Connecticut, rhave revealed the questions they are most frequently asked in a video they are posted on TikTok.
“We’re going to do a FAQ because some of you can’t shut up,” Lupita said in the clip, which has been viewed more than 9.8 million times.
The women, who share organs and limbs below the waist, then answer the questions their curious followers are dying to know.
Conjoined twins Carmen (right) and Lupita Andrade, 23, are as close as two sisters can be – and now share their honest answers to frequently asked questions about their lives
The twins, who moved to the US from Mexico when they were two and now live in Connecticut, revealed the questions they are often asked in a video on TikTok.
When they were born, doctors told their parents they would probably only live a few days – but they have defied all odds and are now thriving – but share some unusual effects from sharing body parts.
“If one of us is tired, we don’t both have to be tired, because we have two separate brains,” Carmen begins the FAQ.
“Yes, one of us can be awake and one of us can be asleep because, again, there are different brains. We are two separate people,” she noted.
Lupita also dismisses all theories that they can control each other’s limbs.
“No, we can’t control each other’s limbs or halves,” she said.
“Yes, I can drive,” Carmen interrupted. “I have the right foot, so I drive.”
They added that they share a bloodstream, so getting drunk affects them both, but that they feel full at different rates because they have two stomachs.
“We are still two different people,” Carmen reminded followers. “So we have two separate IDs and ID numbers and social security numbers and all that.”
Carmen then discusses some of the more confrontational and raw messages they receive, including what will happen if one of them dies.
The women, who share organs and limbs below the waist, then answer the questions their curious followers are dying to know
Carmen has been in a relationship with her boyfriend Daniel for three years and has reminded his followers that he is only dating her, and not also Lupita
Carmen said Daniel and Lupita, who is asexual, are good friends, revealing they often stay up late at night to chat after she goes to bed.
“We share a bloodstream, so eventually sepsis will set in and obviously the other will die within hours or days,” she explained. “But we’re not dead, so why do you always ask us that?”
Another question they are often asked is the legal consequences if one of the women commits a crime.
“I’ve never experienced that process, so how could we get that kind of knowledge?” Carmen responded to the somber question.
Carmen also discussed a topic that is often discussed: relationships and sex, since she and Lupita share a reproductive system.
For example, she explained that they both have endometriosis and experience pelvic pain.
“So do the math on your weird, inappropriate questions about sex,” she joked.
Carmen has been in a relationship with her boyfriend Daniel for three years and has reminded his followers that he is only dating Carmen and not Luptia as well.
She has revealed this before Today that she met him in 2020 via the dating app Hinge.
“I never tried to hide the fact that I was a conjoined twin, which meant I got a lot of messages from guys with fetishes,” Carmen explained, adding that she knew “right away” that Daniel was different from the other men she had . talked to.
“He didn’t start with a question about my condition,” she said. ‘I have social anxiety and have canceled appointments at the last minute, but I felt calm along the way.’
The twins are very open about their story on social media, and although they sometimes receive ‘nasty comments’, Carmen insists it has not brought them down
When they were born, doctors told their parents they would probably only live a few days, but they have defied all odds and are now thriving
She added that Daniel and Lupita, who is asexual, are good friends.
“It’s funny because I stay up later than Lupita, but if Daniel stays over, I fall asleep quickly – and he keeps talking to her,” Carmen said.
The twins also talked about the potential of starting a family one day, revealing they won’t be able to have children.
“We can’t have children, we don’t want children and my partner feels the same way,” Carmen explained.
They also told the newspaper that because they “share” so many “internal structures,” separation surgery is far too risky for them — but they don’t get tired of each other, despite being around each other every second of the day.
“Sometimes we’re just exhausted at the end of the day and don’t feel like talking. That’s when we use different devices and do our own thing,” she said.
“I have my laptop to do schoolwork, and Lupita puts on headphones and listens to music or goes on her phone. We are connected to each other all our lives, so it is not like we lack our independence. It’s all we’ve ever known, right?’