Mom Shares How Twin Got a ‘Crooked Jaw’ in the Womb

A viral TikTok video showcases the surprising effects of a twin pressing against their sibling’s jaw in the womb, and the child’s mom told Newsweek of her concerns.

The clip, shared by Taylor Deal, 29 (@taylortwinmom), has gathered 3.6 million views since it was posted on February 1. The footage begins with a scan, followed by a slideshow of images of her daughter, who was born with a “crooked jaw.”

The text at the start of the video explains that it is “the result of Twin B sitting on Twin A’s face” for the entire pregnancy.

Captioned, “I can joke about it now,” Deal, a labor and delivery nurse, told Newsweek: “I see babies born with crooked noses and misshapen heads from the birthing process semi-regularly, and we commonly tell those mothers it will go away with time. I had never seen an asymmetrical jaw, however, so I was immediately concerned.”

The mom, from Brevard County, Florida, feared it might be a long-term issue that would affect her daughter’s life. She worried that there might be feeding issues and wondered if corrective surgery would be needed in the future.

“No doctors or nurses were able to tell me if this would fix itself with time or if it was permanent, so I was beyond stressed and worried for her,” she said.

Deal adds that craniosacral massage therapy—a gentle technique to release tension in the muscles surrounding the skull bones- and chiropractor appointments helped. Now, at one year old, her daughter’s jaw has straightened.

“I truly think time was what finally fixed it,” she told Newsweek. “It took around three months before it was no longer noticeable.

“Although she had me worried sick over it, she never acted like it bothered her at all. Now, looking at her, you would never know.”

Newsweek discussed the clip, which has 148,000 likes, with Gareth Nye, an England-based lecturer in medical science and a researcher in the area of maternal and fetal health.

He said: “It seems, in this case, that there was some underlying malformation in the skull/jaw region, which was exaggerated by the baby’s position. Pregnancies with multiple babies are much more likely to result in some form of skull shape alteration, usually a flat spot on the head.

“It is likely that the impact of the position will resolve over time, but if there is an underlying growth malformation, this will need to be assessed as the baby grows. If it is not impacting feeding and breathing, the decision might be to leave it alone.”

TikTok Reacts

Over 300 users have commented on the clip, many sharing similar stories.

“My nephew has a flat cheek because his brother was sitting on his face. They’re almost five, and it’s slowly going away,” said one user.

Another wrote: “My daughter laid on my son’s head throughout my twin pregnancy. He had frog legs, a flat head, and a crooked jaw. They all righted themselves, though.”

“I’d never stop bringing this up if I was a twin,” added another user.

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