When someone in class today asked about cases of more than two babies being born conjoined, it made me think of a little girl I had once seen a story about online. I did a little bit of research and found that her name is Lakshmi Tatma from India. She was born with four arms and four legs: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1246431/Lakshmi-Tatma-The-little-girl-limbs-worshipped-deity-starts-school.html.
Lakshmi was born with Polymelia, a condition in which a human or animal is born with one or more extra limbs. In Lakshmi's case, this resulted from her and her twin not completely separating in the womb. Her twin was parasitic, forming without a head and fused onto Lakshmi's body. This little girl was considered an incarnation of the Hindu goddess of fertility and wealth, but the surgery to remove her extra limbs was performed as it was crucial to her health. She's now four years old and leading a fairly normal life, but there are withstanding complications, such as scoliosis, which will continue to affect her health for the rest of her life. The interesting thing about this story, though, is that the doctor that performed the surgery was not American and did it voluntarily for free. The doctor lives about 2,000 miles south of Lakshmi and heard about her story, which compelled her to help the little girl. This led to more people offering to help the girl's family with a place to live and education for Lakshmi and her brother. I think it's important to realize that although this little girl has been "fixed," she still faces many challenges in the future, and those who were able to help her weren't American doctors who wanted to westernize her story. Finally, there is another website I came across with a list of other unusual births if anyone is interested: http://www.smashinglists.com/10-weird-babies-medical-conditions/
Sarah Bradley
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