UP family seeks financial help after birth of conjoined twins

The birth of conjoined female twins has not only brought happiness but also spelled more financial troubles for a poor Dalit family in a Lakhimpur Kheri village, with the parents now appealing to the state and good Samaritans for financial aid to get the newborns separated surgically.

The father of the twins, Ram Kumar Gautam, works as a daily-wager and resides in Danduri village.

On the other hand, doctors in Lakhimpur Kheri were surprised that the twins were safely delivered at home on Thursday. Dr SK Sachan said: "We are surprised that the conjoined twins survived in a home delivery, which is rare in view of likely complications in such cases."

The twins are omphalopagus -- they are joined at their bellies. The survival rate in such cases is only 5 to 25 per cent, according to medical experts. Such twins generally share a liver but sometimes also the lower part of the small intestine and colon.

Usually conjoined babies require surgical delivery by caesarean section due to their anatomy but in this case they were born through a normal delivery at home.

The newborns were taken on Friday morning by their father to a community health centre where the staff said they were healthy. The twins have since been referred to a Lucknow hospital for further medical tests.

Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Dr Manoj Agarwal told reporters that the conjoined twins have a high mortality rate and the birth of the girls was even a rarer case of survival. "We will check the possibility of treatment of the babies," he said.

The newborns' mother Nindara said she was worried about the future of her daughters. "They need treatment at some point to lead normal lives. I hope we can get some financial support from the authorities," she said.