We can do ANYTHING!
Meet the 18-year-old conjoined twins who are determined to live life to the full…
Back in 2002, when conjoined twins Carmen and Lupita Andrade were born in Mexico, they were given just three days to live.
Luckily, a charity brought them to America where doctors saved their lives. But separating them wasn’t an option because although they each have their own hearts and lungs, they share a blood stream and digestive system.
Now, 18 years later, the twins and their parents, Victor and Norma, live in New Milford, Connecticut, where the girls have ongoing treatment for various medical issues.
‘We’re never going to get separated, we’re never going to be our own individual people.
We got dealt a weird hand but we’ve got to work with it,’ says Carmen, the more outspoken of the twins. ‘But we could die tomorrow so we have to live each day like it’s our last.’
Teen dreams
This documentary follows the girls as they show they’re just like any other teenagers, with friends, day trips to the beach, pressures of schoolwork, and dreams of learning to drive and going to college.
‘We’re like any other kids,’ says Carmen. ‘Being conjoined isn’t the only part of our lives. People underestimate us.’
However, the twins have recently received a huge blow.
So far they’ve been able to stay in America thanks to a programme for immigrant families whose children are receiving medical care there.
But since President Trump came to power his administration threatened to deport critically ill children and their families.
Carmen and Lupita have been refused permanent resident status and are living in limbo, knowing a return to Mexico could risk their lives.
‘It’s scary,’ says Carmen. ‘It would have been easier if we’d been born normally. It’s tough to keep it together at times.’