Doctors weigh surgery for two-headed baby

Newborn girl in Indonesia has 2 spines and one set of internal organs

Image: Indonesian baby born with two heads sleeps in Jakarta hospital

Supri / Reuters file

Syafitri, an Indonesian baby born with two heads, sleeps in a Jakarta hospital Aug.10. The 4-day-old baby girl weighs 7 pounds, 450 grams.

FREE VIDEO

Conjoined baby born with two heads
Aug. 15: Indonesian doctors treat a baby girl born with two heads and two spines, but with one set of limbs and vital organs. MSNBC.com's Dara Brown has the story.

MSNBC.com

Kids and parenting videos

6-year-old stands up to diabetes
Oct. 10: TODAY hosts talk to 6-year-old Harrison Zuckerberg and his family about their efforts to raise awareness to juvenile diabetes.

Safe haven law has unintended consequences

Taming your child’s tantrums

Parents abusing safe haven law?

Are cold meds safe for tots?

MSNBC

updated 2:14 p.m. ET Aug. 15, 2006

Doctors in Indonesia are unsure whether they can operate on a baby born with two heads, although the newborn girl is in stable condition, according to published reports.

A team of experts has been assembled at the Pelni Petamburan Hospital in Jakarta to determine how to treat the infant who was born in a healthy condition by Caesarean on Aug. 8, the Agence France-Presse news service reported.

The newborn is an extremely rare form of conjoined twins called a dicephalus twin, which is a child born with two heads, two spinal columns, two arms and legs, but shared multiple internal organs.

Story continues below ↓

The baby, named Syafitri by her parents, is breathing with the assistance of a machine to ensure that enough oxygen flows from her one heart to the two heads, Channel NewsAsia reported.

Currently the baby's vital organs are functioning normally and is in no immediate danger, although doctors are concerned about other complications from her complex condition.