Lori and George Chappell, the oldest living twins, have died at the age of 62

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READING, Pa. – Conjoined twins Lori and George Chappell, who defied medical expectations for a lifetime of pursuing individual careers, interests and relationships, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62.

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According to obituaries published by Leibensperger Funeral Homes in Hamburg, the twins, who were listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the oldest conjoined twins, died April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. The cause of death was not given in detail.

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“When we were born, doctors didn't think we'd make it to 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview on her 50th birthday, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer. George came out as transgender in 2007.

Born on September 18, 1961 in West Riding, Pennsylvania, the twins have separate brains but are fused together in the skull. George, who had spina bifida and was 4 inches short, was wheeled around by Laurie in an adaptive wheelchair. Although each had to go where the other was going, it was “very important” for both of them to “live as independently as possible,” the obituary said.

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Both graduated from public high school and attended college. For six years, George worked at Lori's hospital laundry. Laurie — a “trophy-winning bowler,” according to the obituary — quit in 1996 so his brother could pursue a country music career.

“They maintained their residence from the age of 24 and traveled extensively,” the obituary said. Over the years, they have appeared in numerous documentaries and talk shows, as well as an episode of the FX medical drama Nip/Tuck.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that Lori was once married, but her husband died in a car accident.

“When I went on dates,” Lori said, “George would bring books to read.”

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The twins said in a 1997 documentary that they had different bathing schedules and showered at the same time. George talked about giving someone you love and respect “privacy and compromise in situations that you want them to give you.” Lori said that compromise means “you can't get everything you want when you want it.”

Conjoined twins occur once in 50,000-60,000 births when identical twins from the same embryo cannot be separated. About 70 percent are women, and most are stillborn. A small percentage are fused in the head, about three-quarters are fused in the chest, and the rest are fused in the abdomen or pelvis.

Separation was considered dangerous for the Chappell twins, but Laurie Chappell told The Associated Press in 2002 that she believed such surgery was unnecessary in any case at the twins' apartment in an apartment complex.

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“You don't mess with God's creation, even if it means you get to enjoy less of both children,” she said. In the 1997 documentary Why Fix What's Broken? Denied the idea of ​​divorce.

Now it is not known who will take the title of the oldest twins. The oldest documented were Ronnie and Donnie Galion, who died in 2020 at the age of 68. Eng and Chang Bunker, the 19th century “Siamese twins” who became famous as a circus act, lived to be 63 years old.

The Chappell twins' survivors include their father and six brothers. Private services are planned, the funeral home said.

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