Do All Siamese Twins Come from Siam?

Siamese twins are twins whose bodies are joined together at birth. Sometimes they are joined only by the skin and can be easily separated. But other times, they share a vital organ, and then they must spend their entire lives joined together.

Siamese twins can be born anywhere. They are called Siamese twins because the first pair that came to the attention of Americans was born in 1811, in Siam, the country that is now called Thailand.

The twins, named Chang and Eng Bunker, who were joined at the chest, later came to the United States and worked with a circus. Then they both married American women, sisters, and each ran his own farm!

Chang and Eng spent half the week at one farm with one wife, and half the week at the other farm with the other wife. Between them, they produced 22 children.