Conjoined twins: symptoms you may experience during pregnancy and causes

Conjoined twins are twins, two babies that are physically connected to one another. They may be connected at the chest, abdomen, head, or some other part of the body and often share organs in these areas.

Conjoined twins are rare and face a number of health challenges before and after birth. If they survive to infancy, some conjoined twins may be surgically separated, depending on how they’re connected and what organs they share.

What are the symptoms of conjoined twins?

According to healthline, there are no specific symptoms you may experience if you’re pregnant with conjoined twins. Instead, you may have symptoms similar to those in a typical pregnancy with multiples. These symptoms include:

1. rapid weight gain starting in the first trimester

2. severe morning sickness (nausea and vomiting)

3. extreme fatigue

4. severe breast pain and tenderness

5. large uterus for gestational age.

While these symptoms are similar to those associated with pregnancy in general, it’s the intensity that’s different with multiples, including conjoined twins.

The reason? Research shows that higher levels of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) circulate in your body if you’re pregnant with multiples. More hormones may mean more intense pregnancy symptoms.

What causes conjoined twins?

Many researchers believe that conjoined twins begin their journey just as other identical twins do.

An egg becomes fertilized by a sperm and travels down the fallopian tubes to implant into the uterus. Unlike typical identical twins, the embryo doesn’t fully separate into two separate babies. For some reason, the babies stay fused together and continue to develop that way until birth.

We don’t know why the embryo doesn’t fully separate. And in fact, some researchers believe that the embryos may separate normally but then fuse together early in their development. In either case, more research is needed to determine the exact cause of conjoined twins.