Rare conjoined twins who share a single body born in China

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER

Rare condition: The two-head conjoined twin girls were born in a hospital in Suining city in southwest China's Sichuan province last week


A woman has given birth to a baby girl with two heads in the Chinese province of Sichuan.

The conjoined twins, who share a single body, two arms and two legs, were born by Caesarean section last week, according to officials.

The sisters are believed to suffer from a condition known as dicephalic parapagus - an extremely unusual form of twin conjoinment where only a single body develops.


Intensive care: The twins will require around-the-clock attention


Because they share the same body, it is not possible to separate dicephalic parapagus conjoined twins.

The birth of dicephalic parapagus conjoined twins - who develop after a fertilized egg cell fails to divide fully - is extremely rare, with most cases occurring in southwest Asia and Africa.


Sister act: Conjoined twins are extremely rare, occurring once in 100,000 births, while the dicephalic parapagus form of the condition is almost unheard of


However, there have been instances of dicephalic parapagus twins being born in the West.

In July 2009, Lisa Chamberlain, from Portsmouth, gave birth to twins Joshua and Jayden, who shared the same single body. Joshua was stillborn while his brother lived for 32 minutes before dying in his mother's arms.

And in the U.S. dicephalic parapagus twins Abigail and Brittany Hensel have become media celebrities, appearing on the Oprah Winfrey Show and featuring in television documentaries.

The sisters, now 21, from Minnesota, appear to share a perfectly normal single body, although in fact several of their internal organs are doubled up.

While each is able to eat and write separately and simultaneously, activities such as walking and driving a car must be co-ordinated.


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source: dailymail