Twins who fascinated the world

On 11 May 1811, twin boys were born to a Chinese couple living in Siam (now Thailand). The babies, named Chang and Eng, were conjoined twins, fused at the chest and with their livers joined although working independently.

Had they been born 200 years later, Chang and Eng could easily have been separated soon after birth. But early 19th century surgery was not up to the job. In any case, without modern medical imaging techniques it was impossible for the doctors to determine whether the twins shared vital organs such as heart or lungs. So they were condemned to remain joined.

In their late teens, the twins were “discovered” by a British merchant, who took them on a tour of the western world to be exhibited as a curiosity. When their contract with him ended, they successfully went into business on their own, continuing touring and giving lectures and demonstrations.

Eventually the twins tired of travelling and in 1839 they chose to settle in North Carolina. They became naturalised US citizens and adopted the surname Bunker. They acquired a plantation farm and bought slaves to work it.

In 1843 they married sisters, of European ancestry, and between them fathered at least 21 children. When the sisters fell out, the twins set up separate households for their wives and visited both, spending three days at each home in turn.

During the American Civil War (1861–65), the slave-owning brothers backed the Confederacy. As a result, some of their property was confiscated after the war. They turned to public exhibition again, but with limited success.

One morning in 1874, Eng awoke to find that Chang had died in the night. A doctor was called to perform an emergency separation, but Eng refused and died himself within three hours.

During their exhibition tours, Chang and Eng had become known as the Siamese Twins. Their fame was such that the expression “Siamese twins” was widely adopted to describe all conjoined twins and is still in wide use today, although now frowned upon by the medical community.