English

No, a Circulating Image Does NOT Depict Now Grown Up Conjoined Twins Separated By Dr Ben Carson in 1987

Outline

A message circulating via email and social media claims  that an attached image  depicts conjoined twins separated in an operation  conducted by Dr Ben Carson in 1987. The image features a photograph of the conjoined twins before the operation and another supposedly depicting them in more recent times as healthy young adults.




Brief Analysis

Dr Carson and his team did conduct groundbreaking surgery to separate German conjoined twins  Benjamin and Patrick Binder in 1987.  However, the first photograph depicts Canadian twins  Krista and Tatiana Hogan, not the Binder twins.  And, the second photograph certainly does not show the Binder twins as adults but rather the (never conjoined)  Gormley twins from Lake Fenton,  Michigan.  Although the  operation to separate was successful, the Binder twins were nevertheless severely disabled and later went to live at a home for disabled children in Germany. One of the twins  has reportedly died. (Review Detailed Analysis below for  more information).

Example

THESE ARE THE CONJOINED TWINS THAT “DR. BEN CARSON” SEPARATED IN 1987!Ben Carson Conjoined Twins

 

Detailed Analysis

According to a message  making its way around the Internet via social media, email, and the blogosphere, an attached image depicts conjoined twins that Dr Ben Carson separated back in a 1987 operation. The image features two photographs, one atop the other.

The top photograph supposedly  shows the conjoined twins before the operation. The second photograph supposedly shows the same – now separated – twins years later as healthy and happy young adults.

Dr Ben Carson and his medical team did indeed – very famously – separate conjoined twins  Benjamin and Patrick Binder in a groundbreaking operation back in 1987. The twins were brought from their home in Germany for the operation at  Johns Hopkins Hospital in  Baltimore.  



However, the story did not have the happy ending that the image suggests. Moreover,  neither photograph actually depicts the Binder twins.

The first photograph in the pair depicts the Canadian twins Krista and Tatiana Hogan. The family of the twins has confirmed via their Facebook Page that the top image shows  Tatiana and Krista in their early infancy.

The second photograph shows identical twins  Cramer and Carson Gormley from Lake Fenton,  Michigan. The photograph, along with other pictures of the  Gormley twins, was featured in a February 2008 news report about the financial challenges of raising twins. The boys were 18 years old at the time the photograph was taken.

Sadly, although Dr Carson’s surgery did successfully separate the Binder twins, the long-term health outcomes for  Benjamin and Patrick were far from ideal.  After the 1987 operation, the boys moved back to Germany with their parents.

While Dr Carson’s fame continued to grow, news of the Binder twins was scarce indeed and, in time, they all but disappeared from public attention. But, according to a 2015  report by The Washington Post, the boys were ‘hopelessly delayed’ and, years after  the operation, ‘neither boy could get around on his own or feed himself’. Later, their mother  Theresia Binder found she was unable to cope with the boys on her  own and they went to live at a home for disabled children as wards of the state. Patrick Binder reportedly died some time ago.  Benjamin Binder is reportedly doing ‘relatively well’ but still cannot speak.

Thus the fate of the Binder twins was a far cry from that of the healthy young Gormley twins who are the real subjects  of the second image. For those that may still harbour doubts about the real subjects  of the second photograph, note the Lake Fenton name and logos on  Cramer and Carson’s shirts in this and other  photographs. Of course, the  German twins  would be quite unlikely to be wearing such  shirts.

Alas, the pictures depicting  Krista and Tatianna Hogan and Cramer and Carson Gormley was included in a March 2016 Daily Mail article about the Binder Twins with the headline ‘Here Are 2 former Conjoined Patients of Dr Ben Carson “Patrick Binder and Benjamin Binder” Years After Successful Surgery’. Of course, this is far from the  first time that the Daily Mail has got facts wrong in its ‘news’ reports. But, unfortunately, many people still consider it a credible news publication and will take all of its stories at face value.









Original Source : https://www.hoax-slayer.net/does-a-circulating-image-depict-now-grown-up-conjoined-twins-separated-by-dr-ben-carson-in-1987/