A review by finesilkflower
One of Us: Conjoined Twins and the Future of Normal by Alice Domurat Dreger

4.0

I read this shortly after [b:Far from the Tree: Parents, Children, and the Search for Identity|13547504|Far from the Tree Parents, Children, and the Search for Identity|Andrew Solomon|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1363008433s/13547504.jpg|19112644], and it makes an excellent companion piece: both deal with conditions, often congenital, which fundamentally change a person's experience of life and make it different from their families of origin, and which raise questions like: under what circumstances should and shouldn't parents choose surgical options that "correct" the child's condition? To what extent is such correction actually helpful, and to what extent does it simply make the family/others more comfortable, as the person with the condition fits more simply into the idea of normal constructed by society? Dreger points out that most conjoined twins overwhelming choose not to be separated. She presents a mixture of scientific study, personal anecdote, journalism, and analysis.