World’s oldest conjoined twins die at age 62
The world's oldest conjoined twins, Lori and George Schappell, died on April 7 at the age of 62 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, the Guinness World Records confirmed on April 12.
According to the Guinness World Records, they were “nine years older than the second-oldest female conjoined twins ever recorded,” Masha and Dasha Krivoshlyapova.
Lori and George (formerly named Dori) were born on September 18, 1961 in West Reading, Pennsylvania. The twins had partially fused skulls and shared vital blood vessels and 30% of their brains.
Despite what other people may expect, the twins lived independent lives in their two-bedroom apartment in Pennsylvania after they moved out of their parents’ house at age 24. They each had separate bedrooms, alternating between nights to spend in each room.
“Why fix what is not broken?” George answered in a documentary in 1997 when asked if they wished they’d ever been separated.
George came out as transgender in 2007, making them the first same-sex conjoined twins to identify as different genders.
Medical professionals said they would not live past the age of 30, but they defied the odds – reaching more than double that age.
A month after they turned 62, on October 18, 2023, they were named the world's oldest twins.
Lori and George left behind their father, six siblings, nieces and nephews, and extended family and friends.