The parents of conjoined twins, Veena and Vani, on Tuesday urged the Telangana government to facilitate an operation to separate the girls, though medical experts have opined that the surgery could be risky.
"Since it was God who gave such a birth to them, we pray to the government (and also God) to perform an operation on Veena and Vani, either in London, Australia or America, to separate them and then hand them over to us," the children's parents M Murali and Nagalakshmi said in a letter to Superintendent of state-run Niloufer hospital in Hyderabad.
Veena and Vani, who were born in 2003 with their heads conjoined, have been staying in the hospital since then under the care of medical staff.
The state-run hospital at Red Hills has become their home all these years as they grew up there.
The children are generally found hale and hearty except for their 'craniopagus' (conjoined at the head) condition.
Recalling that they have been told by authorities that the children cannot stay in the hospital after 12 years of age, the parents said they cannot take care of the children as they are poor and work as daily wage labourers.
The parents, who belong to Warangal district in Telangana, have two other daughters.
Murali quoted the hospital authorities as having told him that they would communicate the matter to the state government.
International experts, including from Britain and Singapore, examined the rare conjoined twins on different occasions in last several years to perform the complex surgery to separate them.
The surgery reportedly involves massive costs and some estimates put the amount at about Rs 10 crore.
However, no attempt to perform the operation has been successful and the children continue to live in the Niloufer hospital.
Recently, doctors from AIIMS assessed the situation and reportedly opined that the surgery would be risky.
The parents quoted the hospital authorities as having told them that the "chances of survival are not bright" with the surgery.