5 Twins Separated At Birth And How They're Doing Now

Siamese twins have fascinated people for eons. Interest in this bizarre condition, where twins are born physically conjoined, results from the unique fusion of shock and empathy that we immediately feel for these innocent young children.

Luckily, medical science has progressed to a point where many conjoined twins can be successfully separated. The success of these operations is determined to a large extent by the location of the connection between the siblings. For example, if siamese twins share a brain or a heart, the likelihood that both children can be saved is reduced dramatically.

Here is a list of five sets of conjoined twins who have been separated and where they are now.

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1. Meet little Hassan and Hussein Benhaffaf who were given a 2% chance of survival at birth.

In 2009, these baby boys from Cork, Ireland were conjoined at the area between the pelvis and chest and were successfully separated after a harrowing 14-hour surgery. After the surgery, their mother, Angie Benhaffaf, said that she was scared she would lose her "little fighters".

Here are the little guys 22 months after the successful separation.

Unfortunately, each twin could only be left with a single leg, but that hasn't stopped these dudes from experiencing what life has to offer.

They were each given a prosthetic leg to supplement their stride.

You have to see these young boys now that they've entered grade school!

Here are Hassan and Hussein six years after their groundbreaking surgery, walking together on their first day of school. 

The young men have matured so much and are doing pretty well at their new school. In an interview, their mother Angela said, "I have to watch them because they're taking off, I never thought I'd say that, that I have to keep up with them." 

The next then-and-now comes from California...

2. In 2007, at the age of two, Yurelia and Fiorella Rocha-Arias underwent surgery to be separated after being born conjoined at the heart and sternum.

The operation took place at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford University.

Here is an illustration depicting the organs shared between the twins.

Aspects of the liver and right atrium of the heart were conjoined, significantly complicating the 12-hour surgery that required 24 doctors. 

While the girls will likely have heart complications for their entire lives, the surgery was a success.

Here are Yurelia and Fiorella after their surgery. Photos of the separated twins have since surfaced on the internet. So what do they look like now?

Here they are in 2014!

In this picture, the girls were going into 3rd grade. They still receive medical supervision for complications from the surgery, but otherwise, they are doing great!

The next story from Houston, Texas is truly amazing...

3. In 1996, Emily and Caitlin Copeland were born conjoined at the liver and chest. 

Crystal Copeland, the twins' mother, found out during her pregnancy that her daughters were conjoined. After their birth, the doctors found out that only a liver was shared between the twins. This presented an opportunity for doctors to operate.

Here are the twins still conjoined as doctors planned how to separate them.

The final operation took place at Children's Memorial Hermann Hospital in Houston, Texas.

Here are the twins on the cover of H Magazine with Dr. Kevin Lally, who was the lead surgeon.

So the surgery went really well, but where are the twins now??

Here are the girls now, again with Dr. Lally.

You have to hear about what they are up to now. Not only are the twins doing well, they recently graduated as co-valedictorians from their high school and are both involved in sports.

4. Rital and Ritag Gaboura were born in England conjoined at the top of their heads.

This rare condition has a survival rate of roughly 1 in 10 million. Doctors from the Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children in London were able to successfully separate the twin girls 

The twins were connected only by the skull. Brain tissue was not shared between them, a situation lending itself to surgical separation.

Here is a model of the conjoined heads of Ritag and Rital that was used to plan detailed aspects of surgery.

Here the twins are after their surgery!

Look at those smiles. The doctors at Great Ormond did an incredible job and have received praise for their expertise in these types of separation surgeries.

While we haven't had an update beyond 2012 for Rital and Ritag, they have been progressively recovering from their experience.

They've had to wear modified helmets to aid their recovery, but by the looks of it, they are starting to get pretty big! Rital and Ritag are pictured here with their very happy parents Abdelmajeed and Enas.

5. In 2011, Trevor and Timothy Bainomugisha were delivered conjoined at the Mulago National Referral Hospital in Uganda.

Similar to the Copeland twins, Trevor and Timothy shared a liver and parts of the chest.

The surgery was complicated so the twins were operated on further at the Wadi El-Neel Hospital in Cairo, Egypt.

This surgery went very well and the twins were successfully separated. Here is one of the twins soon after the surgery.

Here are those boys now!

The boys recently made the news when their mother, Rosette Tusiime, requested money for the boys to get a quality education in Uganda.

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A Pressure Point Technique And Vinegar Can Be Effective In Fighting Sinus Infections

If you've ever had a sinus infection, you know how devastating it can be. It literally knocks you out with pain and is incredibly gross. I won't go into detail about that.

Usually, decongestants and antihistamines are prescribed to deal with the symptoms of a sinus infection. They help, but it would be nice to treat it via natural means. An interesting way to clear your sinuses using only your tongue and your thumb is gathering some popularity online and you should definitely give it a try. In combination with this technique, a beverage containing apple cider vinegar has been found to help clear infected sinuses.

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Sinus infections are incredibly annoying and can cause a good amount of distress.

Every single year, 37 million people go through agonizing sinus infections.

A sinus infection involves a significant amount of inflammation and swelling in the nasal cavities, and is otherwise known as sinusitis.

This painful inflammation is usually caused by a virus, but can be caused by bacterial and fungal sources in rare cases. If you've ever had one, you'll also know how much unsettling discharge can develop. Not fun.

But don't worry if you have one! There are a few ways to alleviate the pain and discharge associated with a sinus infection.

A method that derives from the practice of acupuncture may open up the sinuses and allow discharge to drain. First, you will want to place your tongue to the roof of your mouth and apply pressure.

Next, place your thumb between your eyebrows and apply a moderate amount of pressure for 20 seconds.

Discharge may start to drain, so be ready. The combined pressure applied to the roof of the mouth and forehead is thought to move the Vomer bone, allowing for draining to occur more efficiently from the sinuses.

There's also a tasty natural drink that can be made easily that helps clear the sinuses...

The crucial ingredient in this sinus-clearing beverage is apple cider vinegar.

You'll need 1/4 cup of this yummy stuff.

Juice an entire lemon and get one teaspoon of ground cayenne pepper ready.

You'll add this pepper to the final mixture.

Add a tablespoon or two of honey to a 1/2 cup of water.

This will give the drink a nice sweet taste. We have to spice up life a little, right?

After boiling some water, pour in the apple cider vinegar.

You'll want to add the other ingredients in a cup with the water/vinegar. Let it sit a bit, stir, and enjoy! This mixture may just relieve that sinus infection.

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16 Parenting Hacks For Preventing Major Messes

Kids are wonderfully imaginative creatures, but could they possibly be creative without trashing the house? No, apparently not, because as every parent knows, all the love and joy of parenthood is matched equally by the horror of bananas squished into the carpet, permanent marker masterpieces on the wall, and unidentifiable sticky stuff all over the sofa. 

But it doesn't have to be this way...

1. Let the kids draw on the walls and floor. Okay, hear me out...

With the help of a vinyl shower curtain, now they can safely do what they were going to do anyway. Word to the wise: Make sure it is super clear where the curtain ends and the floor begins!

2. Secure the bubble wand. 

Bubble wands are adored by kids but loathed by parents who end up having to clean sticky messes from clothes, furniture, and, well, just about everywhere spillages occur. But keep the wand upright like this and that mess is reduced.

3. Use a tackle or craft box for all those car ride snacks. 

Replace all those bags and tubs of different sizes, with one compartmentalized box — and as an added bonus, you only have one item to wash up!

4. Make paint and take it outdoors. 

Painting the walls, painting the furniture, painting the TV... Trust me, it's much easier to take it outdoors, mix chalk and water, and let them paint the sidewalk. Then, let the rain clean up the mess.

5. Stop dribbles with a strategically positioned muffin liner.

You know kids take forever to eat anything — even treats. So next time, avoid the inevitable sticky mess in one quick move. Your kids' clothes — and your entire house — will thank you for it. 

6. Finger painting doesn't have to be such a nightmare. Just put a piece of paper and a couple of blobs of paint in a zip lock bag.

Even the most Type A mom will love finger painting without all the associated mess and destruction!

7. An old box + some crayons = mess free art!

We all know we're supposed to let our little ones explore their creativity, so why not let them surround themselves with their art? This trick gets bonus points because it contains the child as well as the creativity. 

8. Glitter, grrr... 

Unless you clear it up straight away, you will forever be finding it in places that defy explanation. Or, you can let your child have a ball picking it up with tape wrapped around their hand! Game time! 

9. Keep bath, pool, and water table toys fresh with mesh containers that allow the water to drip out.

Kids love playing with water, but where there's water, there's eventually mold. Not anymore! #MomOfTheYear

10. Create a designated craft or play area, using an inflatable pool. Keep all toys and craft items in the play area only.

The rest of the house is off limits. 

Pssst... This can easily be turned into an sleepover spot when the kids get a bit older.

11. Make fast food runs fun again.

When is a shower caddy not a shower caddy? When it's preventing food from being spread around your car's interior. It's also handy for keeping the wrappers and food scraps in one place when you've finished.

12. Keep dirty clothes separated from clean ones when traveling, using Ziplock bags.

Ziplock bags should be in good supply whenever parents leave the house — in the car, in the handbag, everywhere. Because kids are messy.

13. Hanging shoe holders are great for keeping craft items and other toys all in one place...

...and off the furniture and carpet. Bonus: Kids can put their toys back into the lower hanging ones without much struggle at all. #EverybodyDoYourShare

14. If your child is a messy eater, ditch plates and bowls (for now). #PickYourBattles

Give them their snacks in containers with lids until they learn the golden rule: More food in the mouth than on the floor.

15. Parenting is messy, childhood is messy, and some mess is necessary...but it can be organized. 

Kids need a lot of stuff but they don't need it all at once and they don't need it spread around the house. Containers are your friend. Use them. 

16. Turn everything into a competition — even cleaning up!

Let's just face it: Life is one massive competition. Teach them young, teach them smart.
"Look at Mommy, picking up all the Lego faster than you..." Work it while you can, Mom... eventually they get wiser than you (trust me).

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15 Facts About Disney's Aladdin That Will Make You See A Whole New World

Aladdin is many people's favorite Disney movies, and it's clear why!

The addition of Robin Williams to the roster really made the movie special. How many of you can act out all of the genie's parts word for word? I know I can. (I do a mean carpet impression, too!) 

Read on and find out some cool behind the scenes facts that you probably didn't know — I know I sure didn't!

1. Animators used Robin Williams' stand-up film to convince him to play the part.  

Character designer and supervising animator Eric Goldberg says, "I think what probably sold him was the one where he says, 'Tonight, let’s talk about the serious subject of schizophrenia—No, it doesn’t!—Shut up, let him talk!' What I did is animate the Genie growing another head to argue with himself, and Robin just laughed. He could see the potential of what the character could be. I’m sure it wasn’t the only factor, but then he signed the dotted line."

2. Williams was so funny as the genie, animators had to extend pauses after his lines to make room for all the laughter.

They weren't expecting such massive reactions from the audience!

3. Like a lot of modern Disney movies, there are little Easter eggs hidden throughout Aladdin. 

If you look closely, you can find The Little Mermaid's Sebastian the Crab and the Beast from Beauty and the Beasthidden throughout the movie.

4. Disney had backups in mind, just in case Williams declined the role (even though it was written just for him). 

Other actors they had in mind were John Candy, Steve Martin, Eddie Murphy, Martin Short, John Goodman, or Albert Brooks. It just wouldn't have been the same, amirite? 

5. Aladdin = Tom Cruise? 

The animators watched Tom Cruise movies to nail Aladdin's sexy confidence. Not gonna lie, I definitely had a major crush on Aladdin as a kid (and maybe still do). 

6. Part of the charm came from Scott Weinger, the voice of Aladdin. 

Remember Steve, DJ Tanner's boyfriend on Full House? Of course you do. All little girls dreamt of running their fingers through that mullet. Well, he's the voice of Aladdin and it's perfect!

7. Disney and Full Housethen did a bunch of crossovers. 

Supervising animator Mark Henn appeared in the Disney episode of Full House, as did Weinger. Joey went to visit the animation studio and met Henn, and Weinger dressed up as Aladdin in a cool callback. 

8. Gilbert Godfried was not the first choice for Iago. WHAT?!

The role was first offered to Danny DeVito and Joe Pesci, but they both declined. I can't imagine Iago any other way! 

9. Aladdin's mother was in the first draft of the movie!

She had a big role in the original version, but instead they cut her and expanded Jasmine's role.

10. Williams also voiced the Peddler, and the famous box scene was made in a really interesting way. 

Says animator Goldberg, “One of Jeffrey Katzenberg’s great ideas was to fill a box with stuff, put a cloth over it, and then when Robin’s in front of the mic, pull the cloth off and he riffs with whatever he picks up out of the box. And that’s exactly how we did that character.”


Also, check out this amazing fan theory:

11. Before Aladdin, no famous actors would do voice roles. 

Bea Arthur reportedly refused the role of Ursula in The Little Mermaid, and she wasn't even THAT big a name. But after Robin Williams nailed his role, everyone started doing voice acting.   

12. Williams was so into being the genie, he was drenched in sweat after every recording session. 

People who worked on the movie with him say "he gave it 198 percent."

13. The principal characters were based on simple shapes!

This was a huge departure from Beauty and the Beast, which aimed to portray characters in an ultra-realistic way. 

14. The song "Arabian Nights" was changed for racist reasons...

Originally the song had the lyrics, “Oh, I come from a land/From a faraway place/Where the caravan camels roam/Where they cut off your ear/If they don't like your face/It's barbaric, but hey, it's home.”The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (and probably many other people) took offense to the depiction of people from the Middle East, so Disney changed the lyrics to: “Oh, I come from a land/From a faraway place/Where the caravan camels roam/Where it's flat and immense/And the heat is intense/It's barbaric, but hey, it's home.”

15. Never before seen Williams outtakes were just released this fall. 

The team went through hundreds of hours of material to show the fans all the work that went into creating the amazing genie. 

h/t Glamour and Mental Floss

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