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Today

• Vienna - Johnny\'s Pub Quiz
• Vienna- January and February at the Austrian Film Museum
• Vienna - Art by Petronilla Hohenwarter.
• STOMP at the MuseumsQuartier
• Ice skating at Rathaus

06. 07. 09. - 17:00

06. 07. 09. - 17:00

´Snake´ conjoined twins

An astonished mother has told how she gave birth to conjoined twins despite being told by medics she was expecting two normal babies.

Scans and ultrasound tests had failed to pick up that the babies were joined at the waist, forming one long body with a head at each end.

Doctors in Xiaogan, eastern China, have so far been unable to say even what sex the tots are as they have been born without any external sexual organs.

The siblings - dubbed the snake twins in local media - were born at Daoqiao Township Hospital on June 19 with a combined weight of 13lbs 2oz.

Mum Yang Wei had been expecting two healthy, normal twins after a series of routine medical checks during her pregnancy.

"It is a huge shock. We are discussing what we can do to separate them but that costs a great deal of money and we are not rich," she said.

These astonishing pictures show that both babies have their own arms, legs, trunks and heads and appear completely normal until the waist.

Further tests and scans will be needed before surgeons can assess whether the twins would be suitable for an operation to separate them.

Dad Zhang Jianjun, 29, says he's been told the op is likely to cost at least 50,000 GBP.

"I am a farmer and we don't have that sort of money but we want to help our children," he said.

Austrian Times

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