The 18-year-old conjoined twin sisters Niv and Nelly Kolestein have two fully developed healthy bodies, but they have grown together in the head area so much that they essentially have one head for two, including a large common artery, which makes them impossible to operate.
The sisters were born in South Africa, and they were brought to the Netherlands in an attempt to help for the survey. Then there was still hope for separation and the sisters’ parents really wanted it.
Conjoined twins of this type are called craniopagus, they are very rarely born and even less often live to conscious age. And every such case is a real challenge to doctors and psychologists.
Because of their anomaly, Neve and Nellie were severely insulted by other children and even adults as a child. The words “Freaks” and “Monsters” were among the softest in their address.
The girls’ mother didn’t know until the last moment that conjoined twins were born to her, and when they were born, the doctors said that they were more likely to die in a few days. And if they survive, that the maximum will live to ten years.
Now the sisters are 18 years old and they are desperately trying to live like ordinary people. They are able to fully maintain themselves and do anything without help. They also never wanted to be separated, saying that they are great with each other.
The twins have their own YouTube channel and Instagram page, and they want to show that they are not just people with disabilities, but people are no worse than others.
“We have different bodies, but a common head and therefore everyone thinks that we can read each other’s thoughts. This is certainly not the case. We have different brains and therefore we can think differently and have different habits.”, said Nelly.
In Amsterdam, the sisters live in the house of their older sister Rosianna, who works as a doctor. It was she who insisted that the sisters be brought to the Netherlands and carefully examined.
However, other doctors immediately realized that the blood vessels in the girls’ common head are incredibly entangled and that some of them serve two brains at once. Therefore, it is impossible to make a separation without the risk of the death of one or both.
“They should have died before the age of 10, and now they are 18, it’s unbelievable!” Rosianna says, “But when they were small, we tried not to take them outside for a walk, people were very cruel, one resident even asked why your mother did not have an abortion? ”
However, when girls were 16 years old, they got tired of hiding from everyone. They started accounts on the Internet and started talking about themselves. They have become more confident and want people to learn more about them and stop thinking about them only as persons with disabilities.
“It is very interesting to meet new people and it is very nice to see that they are not negatively minded,” the girls rejoice.
