Meet Ronnie and Donnie Galyon: the World's Oldest Conjoined Twins

Ronnie and Donnie Galyon are 66 years old and are joined at the sternum and the abdomen.

Twins
© Jim Noelker - Dayton Daily News
Twins

Conjoined twins are extremely rare. Furthermore, half of all conjoined twins are stillborn and a further one-third do not survive longer than 24 hours. Live births of conjoined twins are three times more likely to be female than male.

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For all of these reasons, Ronnie and Donnie Galyon are truly extraordinary. Born in 1951, they are the longest-lived conjoined twins in history.

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Ronnie and Donnie Galyon Dailymail

Childhood

The twins were born in Ohio on October 28th 1951 to parents Wesley and Eileen Galyon. Their parents were not expecting to have twins. The boys were joined from the sternum to the groin. They have four legs but share one navel, one bladder and one set of male genitalia.

Ronnie and Donnie spent the first two years of their life in hospital as doctors tried to work out if they could separate them. When they finally decided that it would be impossible, Ronnie and Donnie were sent home with their parents.

Wesley and Eileen tried to send their sons to school but teachers said they were too much of a distraction and banned them from attending, leading to the twins remaining illiterate.

Work in entertainment

When the Ronnie and Donnie were just four years old, their father decided to take them on the road as a sideshow attraction in order to earn money to support their large family.

Although this seems shocking today, the twins say they 'had a nice life'. Their life in the entertainment industry allowed them to meet many interesting people including others born with extraordinary conditions and celebrities like Johnny Cash.

Retirement

Ronnie and Donnie retired from the entertainment industry in 1991. Since then, they have lived in Ohio with their younger brother Jim and his wife Mary.

They are largely independent but Jim is happy to help them out where he can. Jim says:

That’s kind of giving it back right now. I don’t do it because of that, but I feel that way, they paid for us all growing up.

Separation?

Whilst separation was impossible when the twins were born, some doctors have said it could be possible to separate them today. But Ronnie and Donnie don't want to be separated. Ronnie stated:

The good Lord made us. Let our savior do it.

Donnie agreed:

No surgeon’s knives.
70-year-old woman gives birth to twins, becoming one of the world's oldest mothers 'This is a historic event' 70-year-old woman gives birth to twins, becoming one of the world's oldest mothers 'This is a historic event'