Conjoined twins who TURNED DOWN the chance to be separated say they have no regrets as they reach their 18th birthday – and call their condition a ‘gift from God’
- Shivanath and Shivram Sahu, from Raipur, India, are joined at the waist and share two legs as well as four arms
- They said they have no regrets after refusing to be separated – despite the operation no longer being viable
- A video of the conjoined twins washing and dressing themselves was widely shared online in 2014
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Conjoined twins Shivanath and Shivram Sahu, who have just turned 18, have said they have no regrets after turning down the chance to be separated.
The pair, from Khenda Village in the Baloda Bazar district of India, were first brought to the attention of the international community after a video of them washing and dressing themselves was widely shared online in 2014.
Following this, the twins – who are joined at the waist and share two legs and four arms – were approached by several doctors who offered to split them, but the duo are determined to remain together.
They are now said to be too old for the operation but couldn’t be happier with their decision.
Conjoined twins Shivanath and Shivram Sahu, who have just turned 18 and live India, walk around the grounds of their house using two out of their four arms and their two feet
The pair help each other wash as they sit on a red plastic chair. The twins were approached by several doctors who offered to split them, but the duo are determined to remain together
Shivanath and Shivram appear in high spirits as they ride down a hill in their village on a tricycle. They are now said to be too old for the operation to separate them but couldn’t be happier with their decision
The beaming twins walk around their home sporting identical green and purple striped T-shirts. The pair are worshipped by some villagers as divine incarnations
Speaking to Barcroft TV, Shivanath said: ‘We can’t get separated now even if we wanted to. It was possible when we were kids but now it is impossible. The doctors told us that we can’t be operated on.
‘But we don’t want to do anything anyway. We want to stay like this. We have a very unique gift from God. We consider ourselves as two bodies but one soul.’
The pair were born in a tiny village near Raipur in central India and are worshipped by some as divine incarnations.
They are believed to share the same stomach but have independent lungs, hearts and brains. With practice they have learned to do all their basic daily chores with minimal fuss, including showering, eating, getting dressed and combing each other’s hair.
The conjoined twins, from Khenda Village in the Baloda Bazar district of India, rest on their bed, with one having to sit while the other lies down
Shivanath and Shivram sit outside their house on a brown plastic chair. They are believed to share the same stomach but have independent lungs, hearts and brains
Shivanath and Shivram use their specially-built tricycle while posing with their cousin and friends in the village of Khenda in March
The pair, who are considered among the top students at their local school, are able to walk down the stairs of their simple split-level home by using their four hands
They are able to walk down the stairs of their simple split-level home and even run on all six limbs to play cricket and other games with neighbouring children.
They are also talented academics and considered among the top students at their local school, much to the pride of their doting father, Raj Kumar.
The labourer, who is married to Srimati and has five daughters, is very protective of his two sons and was keen for them to stay together.
Conjoined twins occur when the zygote, the initial cell formed by sexual reproduction, fails to completely separate.
It is thought to occur in roughly one in every 50,000 births, but just one per cent make it to their first birthday and two-thirds are stillborn.
Shivanath and Shivram are all smiles as they play outside on their tricycle in March. The teenagers went viral in 2014 when a video of them washing and dressing themselves was shared online
The boys sit on a red plastic chair in front of their mother and father, Srimati and Raj Kumar respectively, as they all pose (pictured left) outside the family home. Shivanath and Shivram (pictured right) eat a meal together, with one of them sitting up and another lying on the floor
Srimati, clad in a traditional red Indian dress, helps her sons Shivanath and Shivram as they wash themselves using a bucket and a tin bowl
The twin’s father, Raj Kumar, sits next to his children as the family eat a meal. The labourer, who also has five daughters, is very protective of his two sons and was keen for them to stay together