Two-year-old Siamese twins with a rare form of head splice flew from Bangladesh to Hungary on Sunday to take part in a risky separation operation.
The girls Rabia and Rokai are so tightly connected by their heads that it is impossible at first glance to tell where the head of one twin ends and the head of the other begins.
At the same time, their brains are not connected and the girls live as two different personalities.
The girls and their parents will stay in Hungary for 90 days, the operation and all expenses are covered by their state.
The operation to separate them will be performed by a team of 20 professional doctors, but even then the chance of success is only about 20%.
Operations on the fused heads of Siamese twins always pose a huge risk to patients' lives. First, after separation, a large open cavity remains on the head of each twin, which has to be hidden with artificial materials. Even so, the head can deform and damage the brain.
Secondly, there is a risk that during the operation something will be affected in the brains of girls and this will affect their mental development.
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Thirdly, such operations are dangerous because of the risk of large blood loss.
Rabia and Rokaya were born in 2016 into a family of rural teachers, and despite their severe disability, they surprised both parents and doctors by starting to speak early and quickly learning to walk.
The fact that their brains work completely autonomously is evidenced by the fact that when Rokaya is crying, Rabia can sit and be silent or even smile.
Bangladesh's Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Mohammad Nasim, gave the girls six plane tickets to the family, and the government pledged to pay the full cost of the operation and subsequent treatment.
Siamese twins are born in about 1 case in 200 thousand live newborns, and even if they survive after birth, the predictions for their future life are usually sad.
About 40% of Siamese twins are born dead, and 33% die soon after birth from various complications.
Only 25% of head-fused Siamese twins have a chance of survival, and even less after separation surgery.
However, even in their adult form, no less serious tests await them. Due to the constant habit of walking bent over, their spines are deformed, which puts stress on both the lungs and the heart.
However, according to surgeons, medicine is improving every year and such children have more chances for a normal life.