- Chelsea Torres, 33, gave birth to conjoined twins Callie and Carter in January 2017
- Despite being joined from the waist down, they each shine as their own person
- They love school and playing with their brothers
Here Chelsea shares her story in her own words
As my twins pedalled into the driveway on their pushbike, I smiled.
Huge grins lit up their faces as their long brown hair fluttered behind them.
‘Look at us, Mum!’ Callie giggled, looking across at her sister, Carter.
My girls, aged nine, are joined from the waist down, and yet they have mastered how to ride a bike between them.
I’m so proud, but not surprised.
Callie and Carter have been a determined duo ever since they came into the world – joined at the belly button.
Already parents to our boy Jaysin, then three, my husband, Nick, then 22, and I were ecstatic to learn we were expecting again.
It was at our eight-week scan that we found out we were having twins – and that they were conjoined.
We were advised it would be best if we terminated the twins, who we learned were girls, as the chances of stillbirth were high. But we refused.
At 37 weeks and six days, in January 2017, the girls were born by caesarean.
When I heard two big cries and saw Callie and Carter for the first time, I was overjoyed.
They each had their own heart, lungs and stomach, but everything below that was shared.
‘We love you so much,’ I whispered.
After five weeks in NICU, they came home in their custom car seat.
Jaysin was the protective older brother, keen to hold them and keep them safe.
I breastfed Callie and Carter using a special cushion, and we were grateful when a nurse sewed them custom onesies, made stitching two together. It inspired me to make dozens more.
In time, Carter became a chatterbox, while Callie was quieter.
At 14 months, the girls began spider crawling, scooting their bodies towards us across the carpet.
I was amazed by their determination and how they worked together as a team.
If one of the girls was sick we’d teach the healthy one how to be gentle.
It made them such empathetic souls, often taking care of each other, and stroking their sick sister’s hair.
When Nick and I welcomed a baby boy we named Mykah in February 2020, the girls, then three, were doting siblings.
That same year, they started cycling on their custom pink three-wheeled bicycle.
It had a wheelchair seat and two handlebars – one at the front and one at the back – for their four hands to hold onto.
Both steered, while Callie pressed the brake by using a special lever on the handlebar.
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Doctors warned they likely wouldn’t walk until they were eight.
But defying the odds yet again, they took their first wobbly steps aged five – each twin in charge of their own leg, yet moving together as one.
It was as if they knew exactly what the other was thinking without saying a word.
It blew my mind!
The girls have never questioned their condition.
I did explain to them before they started kindy that, while they look different to other people, they were very much capable of anything.
They adapted so well, studying at a mainstream school.
Their assistant, Brandy, would lend a hand by grabbing lunch for them and reaching for supplies.
‘They hardly need me,’ Brandy giggled, sharing stories of our girls’ fierce independence.
The twins were determined to do the same activities as their classmates.
They’d head out to the playground with their friends and do arts and crafts just like them.
If strangers in the street gawked at my girls, Jaysin was the first to speak up.
‘Are you gonna share the lollies or just stare?’ he told one sticky-beak when we went trick-or-treating for Halloween a couple years ago.
The girls have had several surgeries between them to treat hearing issues.
Carter’s is related to a birth defect, while Callie has mostly had issues with her eardrum.
But they are a picture of health.
READ MORE REAL LIFE: Mum’s vow – why I won’t separate my conjoined twins
They’ve even mastered swimming and horseriding, and they love going to waterparks.
Doctors have reinforced that it’s in the girls’ best interest not to be separated.
Nick and I love the special connection they share – and they do too!
‘You go first,’ they say sweetly to each other while sharing a story with us.
It’s so cute!
That’s not to say that Callie and Carter don’t have distinct personalities.
They each shine as their own person.
While our innocent angel Callie loves creating things like bracelets and writing stories, Carter is our feisty firecracker who loves playing video games and wrestling with her brothers.
The girls never argue, which just goes to prove how sweet they are with each other.
And their brothers, now aged 13 and six, are just as doting.
Both girls enjoy school and are particularly good at maths.
We have no doubt they’ll succeed in anything they put their minds to.
My heart feels full as I watch my daughters happily holding hands.
‘Love you, Sis,’ they whisper before going to sleep each night.
Born joined at the hip, my girls will never be separated.
Follow the twins @callieandcarterbeatodds on Instagram
