May-Joe was a permaphrodite born with a parasitic twin that was displayed in sideshows.
Medical condition
May-Joe had three buttocks, three legs, all poorly developed, two stomachs, two sets of kidneys and two genitalia of opposite sex. Although May-Joe had three legs, all of these were badly deformed and she could neither walk nor stand.
Life
May-Joe was born on a farm in Ashland County, Ohio, on October 16, 1905, the child - or children - of Mr. and Mrs. Luther Ethinger. Since May-Joe was also a hermaphrodite, his parents called him first George but later raised him a girl. When George was still less than a year old, his parents hired a team known only as Bolus and Startzel to manage his career but there are no evidences that they ever signed any contract. Afterwars, they attempted to exhibit him in the town of Wooster, Ohio, but were shut down by the local Humane Society. The Ethingers turned instead to the Starling-Ohio Medical College (now part of Ohio State University) in Columbus, and allowed their son to be shown to medical studends by a Dr. J.A. Ribel.
May-Joe grew up and elected to become a girl, spending a number of years living as a she, under various feminine (but always double) stage names such as Joe-Pearl, Josephine-Pearl and Elsie-Lynn. Photographs suggest she may have lived in a hospital or sanitorium, and she is often shown accompanied by nurses.