A mum told she was expecting twins has been left shocked after giving birth to a baby with two heads. The miracle youngster was also found to have two hearts and three hands when he was examined.
First-time parents Shaheen Khan and husband Sohail had been told they were expecting twins. But when the baby was born on March 28 in Ratlam in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, they discovered they were conjoined.
The condition is known as dicephalic parapagus. It means two infants are joined by one torso and often results in a stillbirth.
But the miracle baby has been admitted to a hospital in the nearby city of Indore to be monitored by doctors. Mum Shaheen remains in the district hospital in Ratlam.
One of the doctors, Dr. Lahoti, said: "These kinds of cases are rare and the condition of babies remains uncertain, especially in the initial days. Due to this, we have kept them under observation. We have not planned for any surgery on the patient."
Dicephalic parapagus is a rare form of partial twinning with two heads side by side on one torso. The condition is also called parapagus dicephalus.
If carried to term, most dicephalic twins are stillborn, or die soon after birth. A small number are known to have survived to adulthood.
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