The Ezell family had the pleasant surprise of twin boys, but with some worry they went into their ultrasound. At the ultrasound, the mother noticed the babies were sitting oddly and asked the nurse if they were conjoined. The nurse told her she believes they are and awaited to see the doctor, in tears. Her and her husband, Dave, were told that the babies shared a liver and both have holes in their hearts which could correct themselves. Other than that, all there limbs and organs were in check. Given the option of abortion up to 20 weeks, and her being 17 weeks pregnant, they had a hard choice to make because the babies survival rate was 5%. They decided that they would try to keep the babies and went on with the pregnancy. After they were born, the family continued to the surgery and the babies were separated successfully and to this day live well under some life support systems such as respirators, which they hope to out grow someday.
From the scientific point of view, the mutation was caused because when the fertilized egg splits into two, there are eight to twelve days that are spent in this separation process. In this case, that is what happened and it happens because the like cells, and DNA in the cells where they are conjoined, connect because they are so similar within the separation process.
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