Indonesian Baby Born With 2 Faces Needs High-Risk Surgery

A baby born with two faces may need to have one of them removed in order to survive.

Gilang Andika was born in Batam, Indonesia, in early May. He has one body, two arms, two legs and one head. His skull, however, has two independently moving faces and two brains, according to “Inside Edition.”

The condition, known as craniofacial duplication, causes part or all of the face to be grown twice because of a problem during the egg’s division in the womb, according to the Metro newspaper.

Gilang’s mother, Ernilasari Andika, said she didn’t have an eventful pregnancy, and doctors didn’t pick up her baby’s abnormalities before birth, even with three ultrasound tests.

“The doctor just said the baby’s head is enlarged and he is in breech position,” Ernilasari told Newsflare.

Gilang cannot breastfeed, and has to receive food through a tube. He also has hydrocephalus, a condition in which fluid starts building up in the brain, causing long-term brain damage, according to the website.

Doctors at the local hospital said Gilang would likely need to undergo a high-risk operation at a medical center in Jakarta to remove one of his faces and brains.

The surgery would be expensive and would require the family to travel. But without it, Gilang is unlikely to survive much longer.

“When he was born, he weighed 3.6 kilograms, but now he is very thin,” Gilang’s dad, 35-year-old Mustafa Andika, said, according to “Inside Edition.”

Even if Gilang survives, doctors said he will likely face learning disabilities, speech, vision or memory problems throughout his life, according to Caters News Agency.