This letter discusses an initiative that considered the rights of a child living with a rare disease in the context of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). The aim was to inform laypeople on the intersection between the UNCRC and rare and undiagnosed diseases. The Project was initiated in Western Australia for a national audience, with a view that it might also provide a framework that is translatable to other jurisdictions internationally. This letter discusses some of the key themes raised by the Project and the potential for further work.

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Conjoined twins are very rare. The overall survival rate has been estimated to be approximately 25% to 50%. We report a case of conjoined twins delivered in Indianola, Mississippi in 1955 who made medical history. The Matthews' conjoined twins were the fi rst in history to be separated and both survive. They were delivered in rural Mississippi at home by vaginal delivery by Dr. Clinton Battle, a 29-year-old Meharry School of Medicine graduate. The Matthews twins are now 61 years old (retired school teachers) and their 92-year-old mother, Missouri Matthews, are alive and well living in Mississippi.