Emanoel and Jesus de Nazare

A Brazilian woman has given birth to a baby with two heads this week. The boy has two brains and two spines but shares one heart, lungs, liver and pelvis. In the spirit of Christmas, she has decided to call her son(s) Emanoel and Jesus respectively.

Maria de Nazare, gave birth by caesarean at a hospital in Anajas, in Brazil’s northern Para state, with her newborn weighing 4,5kg. Because she lives in a rural area of the country, and had no ultra-sound scans during her pregnancy she only found out the truth minutes before she gave birth.

Neila Dahas, director of the Santa Casa hospital said:

If both their brains are functioning, how are we going to choose which head to remove? We are not considering the possibility of surgery. What we’ve got to think about at this moment is to maintain the children in good condition and see how they will develop.

Remarkably, this is the second time a two-headed baby has been born in Brazil this year. Sueli Ferreira, 27, gave birth to a two-headed baby in Paraiba State, but it died a few hours later because of lack of oxygen to one of the child’s heads.

[Source: Daily Mail]