Rare Conjoined Twins Born With Two Heads, Three Hands Deemed Physically Fit

Doctors in Odisha, India was left stunned at the birth of twins with a rare condition. The two baby girls were born with two heads, three hands and two legs. The conjoined twins, also known as Siamese twins, were born to a family of a poor farmer on Sunday, April 11.

Having been shifted from the private hospital where they were born to a larger pediatric hospital, the children have been deemed fit by doctors. The children’s father, Umakant Parida, has requested the state government to provide financial aid required for the twin’s medical care.

Umakant and his wife Ambika arrived at the private hospital in Kendrapara town for the cesarian section operation for the birth of their child. The residents from Kani village in the Rajnagar area had traveled to the town for the child’s birth. They were not expecting twins, let alone conjoined twins. The lack of diagnostic facilities in the village prevented the parents from knowing about the condition of their child before birth.

After the birth of the twins, their condition worsened at the private hospital. They were shifted to the district headquarters hospital at Kendrapara, India.com reported. At the government facility, the children’s condition stabilized. Debashis Sahoo, a pediatrician at the district headquarters hospital, revealed that the children were physically fit.

He also shared his observation of the twins. He said that each of the heads functioned as an independent unit. Sahoo said “, the newborn is eating with two mouths and breathing with two noses.” He also revealed that the twins had three arms, one of which was on the back of the torso. The twins were conjoined from the chest down, so they had only two feet.

Republic World recalled that in 2017 doctors in Delhi operated on conjoined twins from Odisha's Kandhamal district. Jaga and Kalia were joined at the skull. Their surgery was noted as the country’s first successful craniopagus surgery.

Umakant’s children have been shifted to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Post Graduate Institute of Pediatrics (Sishu Bhawan), Cuttack. He made an appeal to the government to help take care of the medical expenses. He said that the family could barely afford a square meal a day, so the treatment for the twins was beyond their means.

Following further medical investigations, doctors will be able to determine if the twins can be separated or not.