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World’s oldest conjoined twins, Lori and George Schappell

Lori and George Schappell oldest conjoined twins, and the world’s longest-surviving conjoined twins, have passed away. On April 7, the twins died due to undisclosed reasons, as stated in the obituaries jointly published by Leibensperger Funeral Homes in Hamburg, Pennsylvania.

Born in Pennsylvania on September 18, 1961, the Schappell twins, aged 62 years and 202 days, held the distinction of being the oldest living conjoined twins, as confirmed by the Guinness World Records website.

Prior to George Schappell’s coming out as transgender later in 2007, the twins also held the record for oldest female conjoined twins ever. After George Schappell came out, they became the first set of same-sex conjoined twins to identify as different genders, the site explained.

The Schappell twins were craniopagus twins, meaning they lived with partially fused skulls. The pair shared vital blood vessels and 30% of their brains, according to Guinness. They were the rarest form of conjoined twinning, representing only 2-6% of cases.

The twins were conjoined by the forehead facing in opposite directions and were unable to see each other, according to a 2005 profile about the Schappell siblings in New York.

Surgeries to separate conjoined twins like themselves were not possible when the Schappells were born, not that they ever wanted to be separated.

“I don’t believe in separation,” Lori Schappell told the Los Angeles Times in 2002. “I think you are messing with God’s work.”

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Despite their physical togetherness, the twins lived very different lives.

Lori Schappell was able to walk while her brother, who was four inches shorter, had been diagnosed with spina bifida and couldn’t walk on his own, the Los Angeles Times reported in 2002. So, Lori Schappell pushed her sibling around on a movable stool wherever they went.

George Schappell worked for years as a professional country singer, even booking gigs overseas. Lori Schappell earned a college degree and worked in a hospital. While Lori Schappell packed medical instruments, George would sit quietly with a book, the pair told the Los Angeles Times.

As they matured together, the siblings discovered innovative methods to accommodate each other. Lori Schappell preferred to shower in the evening, while her brother favored showering at the beginning of each day. They devised a system that allowed one twin to bathe while the other remained dry.

“Normal is subjective, but we are content,” Lori Schappell expressed to the Los Angeles Times. “It all boils down to compromise. If more individuals embraced this in life, the world would be a better place.”

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The twins spent the initial 24 years of their lives in an institution for individuals with mental disabilities after their “apprehensive and bewildered parents” placed them there, as per the New York magazine profile.

Only with the assistance of the wife of former Pennsylvania governor Richard Thornburgh were they able to depart the institution, after demonstrating to state officials that they did not have intellectual disabilities, the magazine detailed.

Subsequently, the twins relocated to a high-rise apartment tailored for the elderly in Reading, Pennsylvania, where they resided independently.

The Schappell twins were featured in numerous television documentaries and talk shows.

Moreover, they made an appearance in a 2004 episode of “Nip/Tuck,” portraying fictional conjoined twins Rose and Raven Rosenberg, as per IMDB.com.