Docs: No Surgery for Twins With 2 Heads, 1 Body
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Jesus and Emanuel have two functioning brains and two distinct spinal cords and share several internal organs. (Reuters/Handout)
Brazilian doctors said the conjoined twins born with one body and two heads will not be surgically separated at this time, Agence France-Presse reported.
Jesus and Emanuel were delivered by emergency C-section early Monday in Anajas, in the northeastern Para State in Brazil. They are in stable condition.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The twins have two functioning brains and two distinct spinal cords and share several internal organs, doctors said.
“It is impossible to take a decision with relation to surgery, not only because of physical reasons, but ethical ones as well,” Dr. Neila Dahas of the Santa Casa de Misericordia Hospital said. "It's important to understand that this is two babies and not one baby with two heads.”
The babies were joined together because of a “delay in cellular division,” according to the hospital. It is a condition known as dicephalic parapagus, which is very rare.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Abby and Brittany Hensel of Minnesota are also dicephalic parapagus twins, born in 1990. They lead a ‘normal’ life and have become somewhat famous after they appeared in a documentary in 2008.