Baby girl's two heads given separate names

MANILA, Philippines - The baby girl born with two heads was baptized yesterday, with each head given a separate name.

The baby’s father, Salvador, 31, said “Nicole” was the one on the left if the viewer is facing the baby, while “Anne” is the one on the right.

“It was their mother who thought of (the names). We want each of them to have her own identity,” he said in an interview at the Philippine Heart Center (PHC) in Quezon City, where the baby is confined.

The conjoined twinning, called “dicephaly thoracopagus,” is considered one of the rarest in the world. The baby will be registered as one at the National Statistics Offie.

According to PHC director Dr. Ludgerio Torres, it would be impossible to separate Anne and Nicole, who have two hearts in one pericardial sac and two spinal cords but share the same kidneys, liver, lungs and stomach.

The girl will undergo more laboratory tests to determine the condition of her other organs. Doctors also want to know the extent to which Anne and Nicole share their digestive system.

Torres said they will consult Dr. Sunji Sano, a Japanese doctor who comes to PHC every three months as “visiting surgeon,” about the girl’s case.

He added they are eyeing surgery to correct the girl’s heart defects.           – Sheila Crisostomo