Baby Born with Two Faces

Most parents would be horrified, but baby Lali, of India, is being worshiped instead of being ridiculed. Born naturally in March 2008 she is being revered as the reincarnation of a Hindi goddess. People are making pilgrimages to see her and touch her feet. She has two mouths, two noses, two sets of eyes, and two ears. She can drink from both mouths, suck her thumb and is otherwise a normal baby. Her condition is known as craniofacial duplication. Her parents have no plans for corrective surgery, which has not even been explored as an option.

What makes some people worship such children, while others recoil in horror? Lucky for this girl she was born into a culture that has given her a place, rather than treated her as we would in most other societies, that is, put her picture on the front of the newspaper to sell more copies.

Some people would have given birth and rejected the child immediately or been disgusted with themselves for delivering such a “hideous creature”, possibly even accrediting the misshapen child as an act of the Devil. Surgery would have been demanded. Some would have abandoned their baby or turned it over to become a ward of the government, yet the impoverished parents of Lali, kept her.

North Americans, Europeans, etc all talk about loving each other and being accepting, yet we are often the first to judge, shun, or gawk, at that which is different. We know “freaks” sell newspapers, and get more air time on the news. People love “horror”, they love “train wrecks” and although they won’t admit it, they do judge others based on appearance.

Beauty is Only Skin Deep?

Beautiful people are either treated better than others, or worse, if there are jealousy issues. Beautiful people seldom form real friendships with what we call ugly people. Fat people are judged as lazy. People with slight facial disfigurements or bad skin are not asked out for dates as often.

We teach our kids not to tease others but we do it everyday, tease, talk about others, put others down based on looks alone, and judge. Why is this? Is it a way to make ourselves feel better? Why would we need to do that? Is it possible that our society is not as accepting as we think or claim?

We claim we want to know people for who they are, and don’t prejudge, yet study after study has shown us otherwise. Studies have shown that it isn’t even what you say that matters, but your appearance more than anything. Science Fair projects have often involved people dressing one way and seeing how they are treated, then dressing another way and seeing how they are treated, done while behaving exactly the same way each time. Typically they are treated very differently.

We pick our partners often first based on looks, later we figure out if we are compatible based on personality. In places where marriages are arranged do those people judge on looks as well? Perhaps this is why baby Lali was not thought of as repulsive.

The easy answer would be to say she is treated well because she looks like a Goddess, but what kind of culture has a two headed person as a goddess? Perhaps it is the culture that is most accepting. If we really want our children to grow up without picking on others based on looks alone, perhaps we need to change our own way of behaving and thinking about others based on appearances.