India two-faced baby's family refuses special care

April 12, 2008 - 0:0

SAINI (Reuters) -- The family of an Indian baby born with two faces has refused special medical treatment for the infant, saying she is the incarnation of a Hindu goddess.

The month-old girl suffers from what appears to be craniofacial duplication, an extremely rare congenital disorder in which part of the face is duplicated on the head.
Lali (red), born to a family of poor farm laborers in a village about 55 km (34 miles) east of New Delhi, has an extra pair of eyes, nose, and lips.
Media reports said she ate with both mouths and blinked all four eyes.
The family sees little to differentiate her from other babies and refused to take her to a specialist doctor.
""She is fine. She sleeps, eats and cries like other normal babies ... A local doctor said there is nothing wrong with the child,"" Bhram Singh, Lali's grandfather, told Reuters in this village of brick houses and wheat fields.
""The birth is a miracle and a good sign for the village,"" said Daulat Ram, the village chief.
""I had never seen something like this in my life so naturally I was a little scared when I first saw her,"" her father, Vinod Kumar, said at the weekend at the family's mud-and-brick house in Noida town, about 50 kilometers (30 miles) northeast of New Delhi.
The case comes just months after Indian doctors performed a rare, marathon surgery to remove the extra limbs of a girl born with four arms and legs.
Two-year-old Lakshmi Tatma's case captivated the nation last year as domestic and international media focused on her complicated surgery performed in southern Bangalore city in November.
This year, Lakshmi started taking her first steps with the help of a baby walker, delighting her parents and doctors.
Kumar said he had heard about Lakshmi, but did not want to change anything about his daughter's features.
""This child is very special to us,"" the baby's grandfather chimed in, gazing lovingly at the infant.