SES: Thank you both for agreeing to answer a few questions. I know you're trying to avoid media attention, so we really appreciate your time.
BETH: No problem, Quaid. We don't mind.
SES: Can you introduce yourselves?
BETH: I'm Beth Henderson... For the folks who read this, I'm the one on the left. I'm 23, and I'm from --
LIZ: Ahem.
BETH: Ah, right, sorry.
LIZ: No problem. Sorry, guys, but I'm not comfortable with spreading that information around. Anyway, I'm Liz Henderson. I'm the one on the right, as you might have guessed.
SES: You are conjoined twins, and this is a rare opportunity so forgive me if some of these questions seem obvious to you: You are not a 2-headed person, correct?
LIZ: Right. We're definitely two different people.
BETH: We just so happen to cohabit one body.
SES: Can you each control your combined body?
LIZ: Nope. We each have control and feeling over our side of our body, but that's all.
BETH: Well, there is a bit of shared area down our middle. Tickle us right in the middle, and we'll both laugh.
SES: So rather than being a woman with something extra, you're more like two one-legged and one-armed women, connected?
BETH: Basically, yeah.
SES: You don't have to go into too much detail, but how are your internal organs arranged?
BETH: We each have our own heart, but we share our middle lung... Both of our throats go to the same stomach... um, anything else?
LIZ: No, that's pretty much it. Other than that we share all the same organs that an ordinary person has.
SES: Do you know what the other is thinking, like telepathy?
BETH & LIZ (in unison): No.
SES: (laughs) And you DO realize that by answering like that, it DOES seem like telepathy?
BETH (grins): Yes, thus the joke. Seriously, we don't have telepathy.
SES: Is walking difficult?
BETH: Not really. We coordinate without even really thinking about it. It's just the way we've always done it.
LIZ: Every now and then one of us will try to turn or something when the other wasn't expecting it, and that can throw us, but it doesn't happen all that often.
SES: Okay, that's probably enough of these sort of questions. Liz, is that kind of "freakshow" questioning the reason you didn't want to do the interview or photos initially?
LIZ: Well, not exactly... It's only natural for people to have questions about us, and neither of us really minds. I'm more worried about a media circus... right now, the only people who really know about us are the people in the town we live in. And I like it that way. I don't want to have reporters following us around, and people trying to get us to go on Jerry Springer.
SES: And Beth, you have a different opinion?
BETH: Not exactly. I don't want a media circus either. It's just that I don't think our posing on this club will cause a media circus. And it's something I liked, so I'm trying to convince Liz to try it again.
SES: So Beth, how did you convince Liz to pose topless?
BETH: She only wanted to do one picture if we were going to do it at all, so she could see how people would react. But she knew that I wanted to do more, so we bargained a bit... we'd do just one, but we could pose the way I wanted to. And I wanted to do a full fledged shoot.
SES: What do you think of the reaction, Liz?
LIZ: It's better than I expected. The people on the club have all been very nice, and it doesn't seem to have spread over the internet or anything. Or at least if it has, not in any way that's causing any kind of media circus. I'm thinking that maybe I'll go along with more pictures, if Beth still wants to do it.
SES: And Beth, what do you think?
BETH: Oh, I'm loving the response. I've always sort of liked the attention that we can get... I mean, we've been told we're sexy despite the fact that we're joined, so to find people that think our situation makes us even more sexy... it's nice.
SES: Is it difficult for you two to get along? Have you ever wanted to be alone?
LIZ & BETH (in unison): Oh, yes.
BETH: I mean, it's not like we're at each other's throats all the time. But we have different desires, we want different things.
LIZ: Obviously, this modeling, case in point.
BETH: Right, exactly. We're sisters. We want different things. Sometimes we fight. And we've had some knock-down drag-outs, too. If we could be separated but still have working bodies, we'd jump at the chance.
LIZ: In a second. But we can't, and we've adjusted. We don't really think about it, usually.
SES: What was it like for you growing up?
(They look at each other for a moment.)
LIZ: Well, I don't want to go into too much detail here either, but it was difficult. Kids can be cruel, like everybody says. And... well, the "two headed girl" doesn't fit in most social groups, you know?
SES: I certainly hope you had SOME friends?
LIZ: Oh, sure. We even had a few dates. We just, ah, weren't the most popular kids in school.
BETH: It wasn't hellish or anything. Sometimes it was even fun.
SES: Well, my standard questions aren't really relevant for the two of you, but I'll adapt some of them anyway. What are the worst things about being the way you are?
BETH: Well, the stares don't really bother us any more than they bother everyone else. But it is really annoying when people treat us like we're one person.
LIZ: And every now and then, when we really are pissed off at each other, it isn't fun.
SES: What are the best things?
LIZ: It's nice to always have someone who understands you, who's always there to talk to.
BETH: Yeah. We might not have a lot of privacy, but we never have to worry about loneliness, either.
SES: Do you like being different?
BETH: It's hard to say. We've been different all our lives... there's nice things about it, and there's downsides, but we really don't have anything to compare it to.
SES: I think this was kind-of answered before, but: If you had the choice, would you still want to be different to the world's view of normal?
LIZ: We'd probably want to be normal if we could, but not because of the world's views on it. It'd just be nice to have a body to myself, you know?
SES: And I'm sure a few people would want me to ask this: Are either of you currently attached?
(Both laugh.)
LIZ: We'll assume the pun was unintended.
SES: Sorry, it wasn't! That just came out wrong.
BETH: But no, neither of us are currently seeing anyone.
SES: If you were looking for a boyfriend, would you share the one guy or each want someone different?
BETH: We've tried sharing one guy... It doesn't really work for us. We get jealous of each other, we get neurotic about it. We can share a body, but we can't seem to manage sharing a boyfriend.
LIZ: Plus, we usually look for different things in a guy.
SES: Well, thanks for letting me ask those questions. Do either of you have anything else you'd like to add, for the club members?
BETH: Well, they can email us at ses_lizbeth@yahoo.com. I'd like to hear what they have to say directly.
SES: Oh yes, a member had noticed that you now have a Yahoo ID. Will you be available to chat at all?
BETH: Sometimes, but probably not that often. We're pretty busy.
SES: Thanks again, and we hope to see you again for some photos sometime. It's been a real pleasure talking with you both.
BETH: Likewise.
LIZ: It's been nice talking to you, Doug.