Mom of baby born with two faces: 'You have to see it to believe it'

It’s so rare, only 35 such cases have ever been recorded worldwide, and unfortunately, none have survived.

But these 11-day-old conjoined twins who share one body but have two faces are seemingly defying the odds.

The girls were born with two identical faces and two separate brains, but share everything else. Doctors say the next five weeks are crucial. If they survive that long, their long-term chances of survival are good.

“Even though there is only one body, we call them our twins,” Simon Howie, their father, told Woman’s Day. “To us, they are our girls and we love them.”

The twins are being treated at The Children’s Hospital at Westmead in Australia, where doctors are trying to assess a range of problems, from lung function to best feeding practices.

Early in the pregnancy, the couple was aware of the girls’ rare condition called diprosopus, meaning they would be conjoined and have two faces and brains connected by one brain stem. But they opted against terminating the pregnancy.

“We sort of looked at it as; it’d be the same as being a child with autism or Down syndrome,” Howie said. “I sort of don’t believe in terminating the baby if it’s healthy and growing fine and everything is going to plan.”

h/t: Daily Mail