Parents make difficult decision to keep conjoined twins together

Mom won&#39;t separate conjoined twins

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    Mom won't separate conjoined twins

Mom won't separate conjoined twins 02:07

Story highlights

  • About 33% of conjoined twins are connected from breastbone to waist
  • Conjoined twins occur once in every 200,000 live births
  • No separation surgery has successfully been performed on twins connected at the heart

The chances that conjoined twins will survive are minimal. The chances that both conjoined twins will survive surgical separation are even tinier. That's why a Pennsylvania couple says they will keep their two newborns together.

"I'm thankful they were able to survive this long, and they're still going strong," their 25-year-old father, Kody Stancombe, told CNN affiliate WTAE.

"It would hurt us to lose one and have the other," the twins' mother, Michelle Van Horne, said. "They were born together; they can stay together."

Conjoined twins: Everything you need to know




Doctors have gotten better at separating children who share other organs.





Conjoined twins were at one time called "Siamese twins," named for two brothers, Eng and Chang Bunker, who came from Siam, the country now known as Thailand.

After appearing in circuses and sideshows all around the world, they settled in the United States and become successful ranchers. They had 21 children between them after marrying two sisters. The term "Siamese twins" is no longer used since it is considered racially insensitive. The Bunker brothers lived until 63.

Andrew Donovan Lee and Garrett Lee Donovan Stancombe seem to be doing well. They are breathing on their own and are doing all the things healthy babies do -- sleeping, crying and eating.

"For me, (the best part) is being able to hold them and hear them cry and know they're here with me," Van Horne told CNN's affiliate WTAE. "Definitely, changing their diapers and bathing them is a two person job for me."