Baby with two heads born in Philippines

July 29, 2009

Doctors at a Philippine hospital were Wednesday trying to save a baby girl born with two heads, officials said.

The baby was born late Tuesday and is now under observation at the neo-natal intensive care unit of the Jose Fabella Memorial Hospital in Manila.

A hospital spokeswoman said the baby was stable at the moment, but said she may die if tests proved both heads shared only one set of vital organs.

"The rate of survival will depend on the shared organ. If they only have one heart, they will not survive," the unidentified spokeswoman told local radio.

Reports said the father Salvador Arganda was a tricycle driver. He and his wife, Chateria, already have five other children and there was no known history of twins in the family.

Officials at the hospital said the extra head appeared to be a twin of the girl who failed to fully separate during the development stage in early pregnancy.

"This is the first case of its kind here in the hospital," one Fabella doctor said, but said other hospitals in Manila have in the past recorded similar cases.

(c) 2009 AFP

• LuckyBrandon - Jul 29, 2009
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  do both heads have everything they need (brain, eyes, mouth, ears, etc.)?
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• Truth - Jul 29, 2009
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  Why is it that the majority of catastrophic deformities, such as the one in the article, seem to occur mostly in India or the Phillipines? Is there an environmental reason? Can someone shed some light on this subject? So far, the Internet doesn't seem to have any info on this issue. Thanks
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