Local conjoined twins Callie and Carter are beating the odds
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BLACKFOOT (KTVB) — Callie and Carter Torres are twin girls that live in Blackfoot, Idaho. They are six-years-old, they love to play, and they love school. In fact, this year, they started kindergarten.
There’s something really unique and special about these girls. They are conjoined twins. Two sweet girls with their own likes, dislikes, and personalities, who share parts of the same body.
“I just want people to know that they are just two normal kids, they are in an unusual circumstance, and just treat them normal. They like to be treated like any other kids because they are,” Chelsea Torres, the twins’ mom said.
Their devoted mom and dad, Chelsea and Nick Torres, are always working to raise awareness and promote acceptance for their little girls. They have been featured on the news in eastern Idaho, and on national television.
Callie and Carter are best friends, most of the time, we asked them about that.
“Yeah, but sometimes we are not best friends, sometimes we fight,” Carter Torres said with a giggle.
Mom says they are just like any other set of twins. They argue, and they love each other fiercely. The girls hit a big milestone this year, they started school.
“We really like school a lot,” Carter told us. “We have lots of friends.”
They both agreed the best part about school is lunch and recess.
“They are in school, they go to physical therapy, they do normal activities, they ride bikes,” mom Chelsea said. “Even though Callie and Carter are two individuals put together, you have to remember they are individual children.”
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In 2016, Chelsea Torres was thrilled to find out she was pregnant. The first ultrasound was a shock. She found out she was having twins, but it was more complicated than that.
“When we found out we were having conjoined twins, I was devastated,” Chelsea said. “We couldn’t believe what they were telling us.”
But, she knew she wanted to give birth to her babies. She wanted to give them every chance at life.
“Yes, I definitely wanted to keep the babies, I knew at the very beginning I wanted to keep them,” Chelsea told KTVB.
At 20 weeks pregnant, the Torres family was sent to Texas Children’s Hospital for the rest of her pregnancy and delivery. The hospital has extensive experience in separating conjoined twins.
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“Our plan was birth, separation, staying in Texas for a few years, and just getting them healthy and ready to come home,” Chelsea said. “I was 36 weeks, 6 days when I had the C-section.”
Callie and Carter were born January 30, 2017. Chelsea had no idea what to expect.
“They brought them to me, and they cuddled up to me, and then they had to take them away to the NICU,” Chelsea said. “I told my husband go be with them, I’ll be okay.”
Her baby girls were beautiful and strong, and they thrived in the hospital in the days after their birth.
“I just stayed with them the whole time, they were just cute little babies, they were just Callie and Carter,” Chelsea said.
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The twins went through extensive testing in Texas to see how their tiny bodies worked together, and to see if separation was a possibility.
Callie and Carter are omphalo-ischiopagus twins, which make up less than five percent of conjoined twins. That means that that they share two legs and one pelvis, but they have two separate torsos.
“So Callie and Carter’s anatomy is like two waves that crash together,” Chelsea said. “Their top part is themselves, they have two separate stomachs, and where everything starts to get jumbled is in the intestines, they share their bottom half.”
Chelsea and Nick quickly learned separation of the girls would be life altering, and life threatening. The chance of death for one or both girls was just too high.
“They said nothing is wrong with them, they are perfect, they are healthy, take them home and treat them like normal kids. So, that’s what we did,” Chelsea told us. “If they were to separate, they would have ostomy bags, colostomy bags, medications that they would have to take, and all this other medical complex stuff that they don’t have to deal with right now.”
Callie and Carter are omphalo-ischiopagus twins, which make up less than five percent of conjoined twins. That means that that they share just two legs and one pelvis, but they have two separate torsos that face each other.
“So Callie and Carter’s anatomy is like two waves that crash together,” Chelsea said. “Their top part is themselves, they have two separate stomachs, and where everything starts to get jumbled is in the intestines, they share their bottom half.”
The girls are now working on walking together, which is quite a feat of coordination.
“How they walk is Callie controls the leg under her, Carter controls the leg under her,” Chelsea said.
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The girls have an older brother Jaysin, and a younger brother Mykah. 9-year-old Jaysin loves to give them piggy back rides, and is one of their biggest fans.
“They are both special to me, they are both funny, they both love each other, I love them both,” Jaysin told KTVB. “I see them as just two individuals. They are just like anyone else.”
In the small town of Blackfoot, Idaho, there are the occasional stares. But, these kindergarteners are well known in the community.
“Most people are really nice, and they say, oh look, it’s Callie and Carter. They say hello, and they kind of know them from the news,” Chelsea said.
Thanks to social media, the twins have fans all over the country. Chelsea posts on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube.
“So I made a page called Beating the Odds with Callie and Carter on Facebook when I was pregnant to find other people who have conjoined twins, and I did,” Chelsea said. “I found groups, I found people, people got in touch with me. I got a lot of support, I needed a lot of support.”
Chelsea posts about the girls often, and their followers love to watch them grow, and comment on their photos. She says the insensitive or hurtful comments can sting, but the majority of the twins’ followers are kind.
She says one day, the girls may want to be separated. Chelsea is leaving that major decision to them.
“If they say we want to be separated, we will try,” Chelsea said. “I will tell them they have to listen to what the doctors say, you have to understand the odds, if you want to go through with it, and do it, then I will support it. For now, it’s not my choice to make. It’s such a dangerous surgery, it’s just not my choice to make for them. They are not broken to me.”
For now, these precious girls will grow up together in Idaho, raising awareness for other conjoined twins around the country.