Baby Born With Two Faces

Have you seen this story? About a month ago in India, a baby was born with two faces. She has two identical faces - two noses, mouths, four eyes - everything is duplicated except her ears. There is a scientific name for it, cranio-whatever, but I wonder how that happens inside the womb? Is there a genetic malfunction? Did the Mom eat something weird that she shouldn't have? I just can't imagine what it would be like for a mother to see your child for the first time and have it be a beautiful baby girl... with two faces. The idea of siamese twins has always interested me, but creeped me out at the same time. This is a bit different though, because it is not two separate people, it's a single baby, just with two faces.

Some people in India are making pilgrimage to the little baby to worship her as the reincarnaion of a Hindu God. Now, I don't totally get which god they think she is exactly. Some websites are saying Ganesha, which is the Elephant-headed god of wisdom. I wonder why they would associate two faces with an Elephant head? Maybe it's because Ganesha has four arms, so there is some kind of duplicity? I don't know for sure, but it's interesting that she is being worshipped.

Her parents basically said that they had a very hard time accepting the baby at first, but now they see her just like any other child. Honestly, I don't mean to sound shallow, but it might take me more than a month to get used to that. None of the news I read said if they agree that their child is a reincarnated God, but I imagine that they would rather just go home from the hospital and live normal lives, away from all the media and "worshippers". The sad thing is that babies with this deformity usually do not live long. Doctors say that the baby is doing very well for now, but that it is rare for them to live out full healthy lives. Can you imagine only being married for a little over a year, being excited about your first child, and then having a media freakshow baby that you learned to love, but then who died to her unusual condition? That would probably haunt you forever.