Twins who share one body enter first grade despite the odds. Chelsea Torres, 30, of Blackfoot, Idaho, welcomed her daughters, Callie and Ca...
Twins who share one body enter first grade despite the odds. Chelsea Torres, 30, of Blackfoot, Idaho, welcomed her daughters, Callie and Carter, with her partner Nick in 2017, and doctors said they probably wouldn't survive.
Although doctors warned Chelsea that her daughters might not make it past the first few weeks of life, Callie and Carter are thriving six years later and recently reached a major milestone: starting primary school.
Although each of the girls has their own heart and stomach, they share a bed, an intestinal tract, and a pelvis. Each of them controls one leg and two arms.
The six-year-old twins, joined at the lower abdomen, defied all odds. Chelsea Torres, a 30-year-old from Blackfoot, Idaho, welcomed her twins, Callie and Carter, with her partner Nick in 2017, and doctors told them they had a five percent chance of survival. Although doctors warned Chelsea that her daughters might not make it through the first few weeks of life, Callie and her mother are thriving six years later.
"Callie and Carter's anatomy is like two waves colliding," their mother recently explained to KTVB.
"Their upper parts are separate; they have two separate stomachs, and where it all intertwines is in the pelvis; they share the lower body."
According to Chelsea, her daughters are like any other little girl, each with their own personality, likes and dislikes.
“I just want people to know they're just two normal kids,” she said. "They're a normal circle, but treat them normally. They like to be treated like any other child because they are. They're at school, they do physical therapy, they do normal activities, they ride their bikes."
Chelsea explained on the Today show that Callie is "very feminine," while Carter is the opposite. “And I would like to say that sometimes they get tired of each other.”
“We try to give them their space, even if they're a little stuck,” she said, adding that they will have headphones and can watch TV on their tablets if they say they need time alone.
“Even though Callie and Carter are two people together, you have to remember that they are separate individuals.”
They are perfectly healthy and use a wheelchair to get around. They are currently learning to walk and coordinate their movements through physiotherapy.
Chelsea said the hardest part is finding clothing that fits their unique situation. She has to modify the clothes by cutting two pieces and sewing them together.
She also had to have a car seat custom made at a children's hospital in Salt Lake City where they were born, which they recently outgrew. She now has to wait until September to have another one.
“These things are frustrating,” he admitted. “Yes, they will face challenges, but I know they will be okay because they have each other.”
Chelsea works diligently to raise awareness about conjoined twins and has become a popular social media star along the way, amassing over 205,000 followers on TikTok, where she often shares videos of the girls enjoying their lives and participating in activities like swimming, cycling, games and fun.
Although she is very open about her daughters' story, it took some time to feel comfortable talking about it.
Chelsea mentioned that the hardest part is finding clothing that fits her unique situation. She has to improvise by cutting and sewing two pieces of clothing together. Chelsea has amassed over 205,000 followers on TikTok, where she frequently shares videos of the girls participating in various activities such as swimming, cycling and hanging out at the park.
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