Ajmer boy born with two heads survives for just 32 hours after parents take him home

A baby boy with two heads, who was born in Ajmer, Rajasthan in India, only lived up to 32 hours after his parents chose not to heed doctors’ advice to let him remain in the hospital. The infant had been delivered at the Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College on Monday morning and weighed about 2.5kgs at the time of birth.

Dr Jaiprakash Narayan, an assistant professor of the paediatric medicine department, explained that since this was the couple’s first child, they had not taken extra precautions and consulted a doctor during the pregnancy. Although the 20-year-old mother completed pregnancy full-term and was recovering well post-surgery, the baby had breathing difficulties. Moreover, an operation was simply not possible.

“Despite having two pairs of all of their internal organs they were all trapped in one body, with only one pair of arms and legs. You cannot separate such children,” Dr Narayan told the Daily Mail.

The boy’s parents decided not to keep him in the intensive care unit and took him home in spite of warnings from hospital staff. Tragically, the baby passed away 32 hours after his birth. His mother and father are yet to come to terms with their loss.