SAO PAULO (AFP) – A two-headed baby born in Brazil this week is actually a set of conjoined twins sharing one body because of a rare birth defect, doctors says.

The twins, born on Monday and named Jesus and Emanuel in honour of the upcoming Christmas holiday, have distinct brains and spinal cords but share internal organs, appearing as a single baby with two heads.

Because both brains are functioning and the twins are in stable condition, doctors have ruled out any kind of surgery for the moment, according to the Santa Casa de Misericordia Hospital in the northern town of Belem.

The two babies ‘would be twins but ended up being joined together because of a delay in the cellular division,’ the hospital said.