Seeing the world through each other's eyes: The amazing twins who share a brain

Seeing the world through each other's eyes: The amazing twins who share a brain

 

Tatiana and Krista Hogan are unique - the only conjoined twins in the world who  share a brain.

They are so intricately entwined they cannot be separated. Their family say they have special abilities thanks to the neural connections between them and they may even be able to see through each other's eyes.

Despite their unusual predicament, the three-year-old girls' happiness is evident to all around them.

While Tatiana and Krista move together amazingly well, they don't always agree on which way to go or what to do - and that can cause problems.

Unique: Tatiana and Krista Hogan are the only conjoined twins in the world who share a brain

Loving family: The twins with their grandmother Louise and mother Felicia

The twins, who live in Vancouver, have amazed medical science.

'These twins, I think to our current knowledge, are the only ones that do have a common neurological connection,' said Dr Doug Cochrane, the twins' paediatric neurologist.

"They have this connection between their, what's called the thalamus, between the thalami, one in each to the other.

'So there's actually a bridge of neural tissues in these twins, which makes them quite unique.'

Tatiana and Krista may even be able to see through each other's eyes

It also makes them impossible to separate. Their mother, Felicia, and others believe the connection has given the twins unique powers.

'They share a lot of things normal conjoined twins don't,' she said. 'They have special abilities to see each other, see what each other's seeing through each other's eyes.'

Ms Hogan recalled the moment she learned she was expecting conjoined twins.

But the pair are impossible to separate - a fact meaning they may be facing a tragic fate

She said: '[The doctor] just sat there and he's like, "Um, there's no way to say it, but your girls are conjoined, and they're conjoined at the head."

'And he's like, "I have no idea if these girls are going to survive... You still have time to abort them." And right then I looked at him and said, "There's no way that's ever going to happen".'

Tatiana, the smaller of the two, has an enlarged heart and actually pumps much of Krista's blood to her brain.

The complications have led to surgeries and more worries. 'We just kind of live today,' their mother says. 'We live within today. Forget about tomorrow, we'll deal with tomorrow when tomorrow gets here.'