Two Hearts: Life for little girls in many parts of India can be very difficult. But for 11 month-old twins, Stuti and Aradhana, who were born conjoined, the challenge to survive their poor background is enormous. Abandoned by their parents and shunned by their village, life for conjoined twins Stuti and Aradhana looked almost certainly bleak. Their mother and father were poor farmers from a remote village. They decided the babies were best left with the staff of the hospital, who took them under their wing and mounted an nationwide fundraising campaign for surgery. “They really didn’t have a life if they continued to be conjoined,” says Professor David Baines. Also calling in favours from colleagues around the world, the anaesthetist forms part of an operating team made up of 24 doctors and 40 nurses determined to save the girls. As the operation gets underway the media swamp medical staff: the twins’ story has captivated a nation of more than a billion people and put the spotlight on the way India treats baby girls, especially those with deformities. “In some parts of India families find any girls to be a burden. They’re not really looked upon as something that they want”. With intimate, candid access to the marathon effort to separate Stuti and Aradhana, this is a breath-taking and emotional story of a battle for resources and acceptance.
