Provide names of other journalists involved.
none
List date(s) this work was published or aired.
19-Jun-11
Provide a brief synopsis of the story or stories, including any significant findings.
Nineteen-year-old conjoined twins from south Jersey and their parents give their first-ever interview describing how the family copes and how the boys thrive as brothers, students and best friends. It is rare that conjoined twins live to this age — Stefan and Tyler are only two of perhaps 20 (exact numbers are not known) throughout the world.
Explain types of documents, data or Internet resources used. Were FOI or public records act requests required? How did this affect the work?
Research was done primarily through interviews, but there were two visits to Philadelphia’s Mutter Museum where the plaster casts of the longest-surviving conjoined twins (they lived until age 63) are housed along with the casts of other conjoined twins. Research on the history of conjoined twins including incidence, causes and gender distribution was done through the Internet.
Explain types of human sources used.
Interviews were conducted with the boys, their parents, friends, caregiversm teachers, doctors, educators including the physician who delivered them and the world-famous physician at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center in Baltimore who was consulted when the boys were babies and believed that separating them was too risky.
Results:
The story received more views both in the print version and on line than any other story published by The Philadelphia Inquirer this year.
Follow-up (if any). Have you run a correction or clarification on the report or has anyone come forward to challenge its accuracy? If so, please explain.
There has been no challenge to the story’s accuracy.
Advice to other journalists planning a similar story or project.
When pursuing a story about which the participants may be reticent, as was the case here, I shared with them my past work so they could feel comfortable with the way I would handle the story. I spent several days with the family and was careful to show sensitivity to the boys, listening to their stories with respect, applauding their violin playing and sharing with the family the positive feedback we received from readers.