Extremely rare birth defects

Birth defects like the Mermaid syndrome, a deformity where the legs are fused together, Craniopagus, a phenomenon where twins are joined at the head, and Dicephalic parapagus, a condition of having two heads, occur rarely but prove challenging to the medical world.From Pakistan to Brazil to more recently India- conjoined twins radhana and Stuti will be operated in the same hospital they were born and abandoned by their parents.

Undated handout photo released Sunday Sept.18, 2011 by British charity Facing the World of conjoined twins Rital and Ritag Gaboura (left to right not given) before they were successfully separated at London's Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children. Facing the World says Rital and Ritag Gaboura were born in Sudan with the tops of their heads stuck together. Twins born joined at the head _ known as craniopagus twins _ occur in about one in 2.5 million births and successful attempts to split them are rare. However, the condition can lead to serious medical problems and the charity said the twins' parents asked for help funding surgery to pull the two apart. The charity said Sunday the two were finally separated last month and appear to be healthy. (AP Photo / Facing the World, ho) EDITORIAL USE ONLY less

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Associated Press

Fri 23 Dec, 2011 1:50 PM IST