Two-Headed Baby Born in Brazil (Guest Post by Margot Starbuck)

Last updated on: March 14, 2013 at 2:12 pm by Amy Julia Becker

Two-Headed Baby Born in Brazil (Guest Post by Margot Starbuck) 2013-03-14T14:12:13-04:00 Amy Julia Becker

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

“Though something in my gut told me not to click on the headline, curiosity trumped virtue. I have always been wildly curious about multiple births and other birthing anomalies, and the headline promising a two-headed baby could simply not be ignored. With a single click I was staring at a thick, healthy baby that had been born in Brazil with two heads. Although I’d watched the special cable TV documentary on Britanny and Abigail Hensel, conjoined teens in Minnesota living full lives, my heart fell when I saw these joined babies.

Parents and doctors had been expecting twins, but just moments before delivery doctors realized that they would be delivering conjoined twins. The Brazilian infants, with separate functioning heads, shared a number of vital organs. Each, though, had its own spine and head. Two individuals had been fused in one body.

My mind quickly raced through the possible interventions and outcomes available for these very unique children. Had the mother had early access to medical imaging, I mused, and had the condition been diagnosed earlier, the pregnancy might have been terminated. Many are. I also knew that some conjoined twins could, at a certain optimal point of physical development, be medically separated. I suspected, though, that the multiple shared organs in the Brazilian babies would render this scenario impossible. In some cultures, the twins would be abandoned, exposed to the elements, and left to die. With the high-publicity surrounding this case, though, that seemed doubtful.

The most primal, shameful, instincts of my gut were to eliminate them, assimilate them, or abandon them. My initial response was not particularly Christian.” (from Permission Granted: And Other Thoughts on Living Graciously Among Sinners and Saints)

Though I set out to write a book about how the Church treats those identified as “Special Sinners”—exotic dancers, addicts, prisoners and drag queens, among others—somewhere along the way I realized that that the often-subjective “sinner” category was a smaller slice of the larger pie: who are simply other.

In his brilliant Exclusion and Embrace, Miroslav Volf identifies the natural impulse of many toward those who are “other”—the Brazilian conjoined twins, someone of a different race or economic bracket, immigrants, etc.—as three-fold. When we encounter the one who is other, our natural inclination, as mine was, can be to eliminate, assimilate or abandon.

I think especially of some of my older friends with disabilities. When they were born, fifty or sixty years ago, the advice of the medical community was to institutionalize them. The prevailing opinion of the day, during the 1940, 50s and 60s, was that everyone—individuals, parents, siblings—would be better off if these children were separated from their families. While, for some, the decision made sense, many others were separated from the communities whom they might have blessed and been blessed.

Whoever we designate as “other” will be different for each one of us. For instance, if I see a young adult with Down Syndrome, on a bus or at the grocery story, my first thought is, “Friend!” I know that’s the not the case for everyone. The one who seems, to me, to be other might be someone of a different ethnic group or someone who is ninety-eight years old or someone who works driving a truck cross-country. For the eco-activist, the one who is “other” might be the lumberjack, chopping down trees to feed his family. For the very conservative fundamentalist it might be whoever is waving a baton at the front of the local Gay Pride parade. For the military general, it might be the granola-eating peace-loving hippy. For the political progressive, it may be the sister-in-law who is a disciple of Anne Coulter.

For many of us, the natural impulse when we encounter someone who is radically other is to pull away. Avoid contact. Lock our doors. And yet, those of us who are Christians are meant to take our cues about how to engage the other from the person of Jesus. Throughout the gospels, Jesus not only does not retreat from those his culture considered other, he beelines toward them!

Sadly, Christians are often tempted to whitewash Jesus’ encounters among those who were radically other. We convince ourselves that a dirty no-good tax collector, the disgusting equivalent of a modern pimp or dealer who sells out his community, is sort of like…working for the IRS. We conveniently believe that a rejected Samaritan woman who’s had five husbands is sort of like…the divorced woman in our upscale neighborhood. We completely miss the radical nature of Jesus’ preference for outsiders which so infuriated the religious. When Christians actually pattern our lives after the radical witness of Jesus, we’ll move out of our comfort zones and toward others.

The Brazilian mama who gave birth to conjoined twins in 2011 named them Jesus and Emmanuel. Emmanuel means “God is with us.” If they are anything like their namesake, the arms they share will reach out, toward some other, in embrace.

Who are you tempted to eliminate, assimilate, or abandon? How have you (or might you) overcome those instincts? Leave a comment on this post or these questions, and you’ll be entered in a drawing to receive a free copy of Margot’s new book. Winners announced on Friday, March 22.

Margot Starbuck is excited about the recent release of Permission Granted: And Other Thoughts on Living Graciously Among Sinners and Saints (Baker). Connect with Margot on facebook and read the intro to Permission Granted at www.MargotStarbuck.com!

Previous Post

March 13, 2013

Missing Out on Beautiful: A Reflection on Down Syndrome, Life, and Love

Next Post

March 18, 2013 Living in Poland with Down Syndrome, the Story of an Artist

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Articles Books Disability Down Syndrome Faith family Perfectly Human Uncategorized

Select a Month February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 September 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz