What happens if a conjoined twin dies?
Daniel Lopez
Updated on February 24, 2026
Eric Strauch, a pediatric surgeon at the University of Maryland Hospital for Children, says simply, "They die." Once the dead twin's heart stops, he adds, the "blood stops pumping, the vessels dilate, and the conjoined twin will essentially bleed into the dead twin.
Can one conjoined twin die but not the other?
One Twin Can Perish During Or After Separation SurgeryWhen doctors attempt to separate conjoined twins, it is usually before one of them passes; they know one twin will likely expire in order to save the other. In lucky cases, like Erin and Abby Delaney, both twins survived the separation and had healthy lives.