Woman in India gives birth to 'two-headed baby'
But infant is actually conjoined twins who share limbs and vital organs
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.A woman in India who was too poor to afford an ultrasound has given birth to what initially appeared to be a baby with two heads.
The infant is in fact conjoined twins, who have separate spinal cords, necks and heads, but share limbs and vital organs.
Doctors in the northern region of Rajasthan are fearful the twins, who were born via caesarean section, have little chance of survival.
They say the 28-year-old mother could not afford to pay for ultrasound scans, meaning their condition, dicephalic parapagus, was only picked up two weeks before the birth.
Dicephalic parapagus twins usually cannot be separated and sharing one body places huge strain on vital organs.
“The parents are very distressed and we are helping the family the best we can,” explained Doctor Shikha Malik, who delivered the babies.
“We only came to know she was carrying conjoined twins after an ultrasound two weeks ago but it was too late to do anything by then,” he told The Daily Mail.
The twins are currently being cared for in the intensive care unit of the Cygnus J.K. Hindu Hospital in Sonipat, Haryana
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments