A very interesting book about an unusual but fascinating ethical situation. She describes the lives of several pairs of conjoined twins and observes that nearly all of them didn't or don't wish to be separated. It's parents and doctors who think they must be made as close to "normal" as possible, even when it means sacrificing one twin.

She's a professor of Clinical Medical Humanities and Bioethics and has written about the ethics of intersexuality, which has the same ethical problems: children operated on without consent, although it may rob them of sensation and function, in order to seem "normal". ( )

The book has an axe to grind, that is true, but the subject matter is grotesquely interesting. The (lengthy) introduction promises it's going to be more of an examination of all freaks, but it really focuses on conjoined twins. Through a historical study on subjects like Chang and Eng, the original Siamese twins, disastrous attempts at separating twins, plus accounts from existing paired humans, Dreger is trying to say that we shouldn't try to fix what isn't broken. All these people say that they wouldn't separate if they had the choice. The medical industry sees pathology where the "freaks" find normalcy.

It makes some very good points and I agree with the author. Except there's one part where it really loses me. Where, if it was cut, it would have improved my rating/review. She tries to compare pregnancy to having a conjoined twin. She uses lines like "this entity is dependent on the other for food and oxygen supply. Eventually, through societal pressure and the dominant's personal desires for independence, she decides to make the separation." This, I feel, is deceitful, manipulating the reader through withholding information.

I don't think anyone can deny that pregnancy is a natural part of life, with the end goal being TO SEPARATE and become an independent entity, capable of making more offspring. Conjoined twins, while it may be natural, isn't the typical end state, and doesn't behoove propagation of the species. The fact that it often results in biological and reproductive problems for both parties emphasizes this fact. This attempt at melodramatic appeal, by saying that reproduction is just as normal as conjoinment, is misrepresentation to prove a point.

But if you can get past that fact, it's one of the better non-fiction books I've read. If you've got to do some kind of high school research project you could do worse than this source. ( )

I enjoyed reading this book, and learning more about the debate surrounding separating conjoined twins. It sounds like what society thinks about conjoined twins, and what healthy conjoined twins think about themselves and their connectedness, are often polar perspectives.

One smaller point of the book that I found interesting was that people in history with unusual anatomies (conjoined twins, dwarfs, ususually tall people, etc) have made money making appearances, and in some cases have been looked down on for that, sometimes considered a "freak show," but people considered especially good looking (movie stars, models) make money for their appearances without the same criticism. ( )