Conjoined twins share a pelvis, vagina and a liver – but one has a boyfriend and the other is asexual
27 April 2023, 14:06 | Updated: 27 April 2023, 14:15
Conjoined twins Lupita and Carmen Andrade, 22, have lived a life that is unique.
The sisters, however, don't share a boyfriend. Carmen has a boyfriend named Daniel, while Lupita is asexual
They share a liver, bloodstream, reproductive system and vagina. With one leg each, Lupita controls the left; Carmen the right.
In a recent interview with the Today show, the pair answered the questions they receive most often from the public.
“It’s not all rainbows and sunshine," Carmen told the American TV outlet. "We’ve had a lot of challenges, but we have a great life."
Aged 22, they were born in Mexico but grew up in Connecticut. They took their first steps age four, but only after receiving years of physical therapy to teach them how to sit up and control their legs as a pair.
Despite the arduous journey they've had over the years, surgery has never been an option for Carmen and Lupita as the risks are too high and it could be fatal for one or both of them.
"If we had separation surgery, either one of us would die, both of us would die or we’d end up in the ICU and never get out," Lupita shared.
Naturally, they've done everything together their whole lives - that is, until Carmen got a boyfriend.
Carmen’s been with her boyfriend Daniel since 2020, whereas Lupita is not only single, but also asexual.
Unsurprisingly, dating as conjoined twins has presented challenges for the pair, and yet they've managed.
She met her boyfriend Daniel on Hinge in October 2020.
“I never tried to hide the fact that I’m a conjoined twin, which meant I got a lot of messages from guys with fetishes,” Carmen told Today.
But although the couple have been dating since 2020, they are not sexually involved with each other.
In an interview with Jubilee, Carmen said of when they started dating: “We obviously had to have a discussion on what boundaries are ok what aren’t.”
But Daniel “is ok” with the dynamic, she said, and they actually have more of a “close friendship”.
Long-term, Carmen and her boyfriend want to live together before they eventually hope to get engaged. They love children, but they don’t want their own.
“Daniel and I love kids, but we don’t want any of our own. I like being a dog mom!"
She also added: "Lupita and I can’t get pregnant, we have endometriosis and we’re also on a hormone blocker that prevents us from menstruating.”
But dividing their free-time fairly is something that makes Carmen feel guilty, because she wants to spend so much time with her boyfriend.
“Sometimes I feel bad because I want to spend so much time with Daniel. So we try to come up with compromises. Like, she will choose where we go out to dinner, or what activity we’re going to do.”
In other areas of life, the sisters’ similarities conveniently overlap. They both want to work in the veterinary industry and they share the same fashion taste – but Lupita does have hopes of being a comedy writer someday.
Remarkably, the pair revealed they also share feelings.
“I can feel when Carmen is anxious or about to cry. It’s that same stomach drop,” Lupita said.
“When we were nearly 6, we had a nightmare that we were going to fall off of a plane, and then we literally fell off of our bed,” Carmen added.
“That only happened once, but we can feel the other person’s emotions. That happens all the time.”
Despite spending so much time together, they don’t grow weary of one another and are "happy just the way they are" despite all the challenges, because ultimately it's all they've ever known.