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The baby born with TWO FACES: Two-month-old boy has an extra face and brain from his conjoined twin who failed to develop a body 

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Tuesday, 24 July, 2018, 13:05
The baby born with TWO FACES: Two-month-old boy has an extra face and brain from his conjoined twin who failed to develop a body 

A baby has been born in Indonesia with two faces because his conjoined twin did not develop properly in the womb.

Two-month-old Gilang Andika, from Batam, a city in Indonesia about 20 miles (32km) across the sea from Singapore, has two faces and two brains but just one head.

The complication has left him looking disfigured and suffering from a potentially fatal brain condition, which is causing fluid to build up.

Although he has just one body with two arms and two legs, Gilang is technically a conjoined twin – a condition which affects one in every 250,000 births.

On his head he has the face and brain of a sibling which did not grow its own body in the womb, because their mother's egg did not completely split in two during pregnancy.

His parents, Ernilasari and Mustafa, now desperately want help to save their son's life after local doctors told them they were unable to operate.

Because of his rare predicament, Gilang cannot be breastfed, so has to be fed milk through a tube.

And doctors have said he is not likely to live long because of his condition.

The unfortunate infant also has a condition called hydrocephalus, which is caused by a build-up of fluid in the brain.

Many babies who are born with hydrocephalus have long-term brain damage, which can cause learning disabilities, speech, vision or memory problems, or epilepsy.

Mother Ernilasari and father Mustafa did not know about their son's serious illness until he was born by Caesarean section.

He told Kompas News: 'Indeed, we suggested [surgery] to one of the hospitals in Jakarta which has better equipment than Awal Bros Hospital, but it also does not mean it he can be operated on right away, because doctors in Jakarta are still discussing the case.'