The twins decided not to be separated even if they had surgery.

Conjoined twins Shivanath and Shivram Sahu have garnered a lot of attention since their birth in India, with some in the village seeing them as the embodiment of God.

A doctor said they could have separated since they were 12 years old but the duo decided to stay together.

Shivram said: ‘We don’t want to be separated. We’re going to stay like this, even as we get older. We want to live as we are.”

The conjoined twins were born in a small village near Raipur in central India, they had two legs and four arms and did things together.

The doctor was very surprised by the couple’s ability to bathe, dress, and eat as usual. They share the same stomach but the lungs, heart, and brain are independent.

With practice, Shivnath and Shivram learned how to do basic tasks such as bathing, eating, dressing and combing each other’s hair. They can walk down stairs and even run on all 6 limbs.

Shivnath, who is smaller than his twin brother, said: “We taught each other everything. We ride our own bikes to school and can play cricket.”

Father Raj Kumar said, “God created them that way so they will remain like this forever. I don’t want to separate my children even if I have the money. I will work hard to nurture them. I don’t need any help.”

Conjoined twins occur when the zygote, cells that are originally formed by sexual reproduction but are not completely separated. This is a very rare case, it happens about 1 in 50000 births but only 1% are likely to survive, most twins that are born die prematurely.

The doctor said that the separation surgery could be performed but only Shivram would be able to keep both legs and start living a normal life, while Shivnath would have no legs and would need a lifelong caregiver.