Afghan Baby Born With 2 Heads Survives Operation

Afghan Baby Born With 2 Heads Survives Operation
Asree Gul (L) and her twin sister as they lie on a bed at a hospital in the eastern Afghanistan city of Jalalabad on Sept. 18, 2013. (STR/AFP/Getty Images)
Tara MacIsaac
9/26/2013
Updated:
7/18/2015

A baby by the name of Asree Gul, which means “new flower,” was born with a second head attached to her scalp in Jalalabad, Afghanistan.

Her twin sister was born in good health, but Asree Gul had this abnormality. The baby has had the second head removed and was discharged from the hospital Wednesday, a week after the operation, reported chief surgeon Ahmad Obaid Mojadidi. 

It is the most sophisticated operation ever carried out in Jalalabad, he told AFP. Mojadidi performed it for free, as the baby’s family could not afford it. They are farmers.

The baby’s parents were prepared for the worst. Her father, Nematullah, who only goes by one name, told AFP he had not expected Asree Gul to survive the operation.