Eight-limbed girl 'will always be a Goddess'
By Megan Levy Last Updated: 3:23am GMT 26/02/2008

The parents of an Indian girl who named their daughter after a multi-armed Hindu deity when she was born with four extra limbs have said she will always remain a "Goddess" even after pioneering surgery separated her from her headless, conjoined twin.

The family of Lakshmi Tatma, 2, told a Channel 4 documentary of their tortuous decision to risk their child's life and confront cultural stigma by opting for the operation.
When she was born, the inhabitants of her village believed she was a gift from God and christened her Lakshmi, after the four-armed Hindu goddess of wealth.
However, her mother, Poonam, and father, Shambu Tatma, both in their twenties and earning about 50p a day as casual labourers, rejected the opportunity to exhibit her to pilgrims as a lucky charm and instead sought treatment.
At first they were rejected by a government hospital but a team of surgeons agreed to perform the operation privately.
Lakshmi is now recovering in a specialist care unit and has taken her vital first steps after the 27-hour operation in November. Eventually, her family hope, she should be able to walk and move like an ordinary child.
Tomorrow's programme examines Indian attitudes to disability and the difficulties faced by the rural poor in overcoming deeply help superstitious beliefs.
"What mustn't happen is that Lakshmi is taken away and sold to a circus," the leader of Lakshmi's village elders told the documentary's makers.
"She could have been exhibited like a freak here and earned us a fortune but we never wanted to do that and neither did the parents."
Dr Sharan Patil, the consultant orthopaedic surgeon who performed the operation, said their decision to embrace science over faith was "historic".

Lakshmi's mother, Poonam Tatna, also describes the moment she first laid eyes on her new daughter.
"When I first saw her it was so upsetting that I fainted for two days. She has four arms and four legs. She looks like Laskhmi," she says.
Lakshmi will need another smaller operation in the future but doctors believe that, one day, she will be able to walk.
For her parents, Lakshmi will always be a special child.
"For as long as she is alive, until my dying day, I will believe she is the goddess," her father, Shambhu, says.

Eight-limbed Lakshmi Tatma takes big step
Last Updated: 3:22amGMT 26/02/2008

Lakshmi Tatma, the Indian girl born with eight limbs, has recovered from major surgery and taken her first steps - albeit with the aid of a baby-walker.
The two-year-old underwent a 27-hour operation in November to remove the two arms and two legs of her parasitic twin.
The operation was carried out after Dr Sharan Patil, a orthopaedic surgeon from Bangalore, took an interest in Lakshmi's case after hearing that her parents, who each earned just 50p a day as labourers, had been turned away from government hospitals.
Lakshmi's mother, Poonam, said her daughter - who was named after the six-limbed Hindu goddess - knew she was now closer to being a "normal child".
"Lakshmi always knew she was different. After the operation she instinctively started behaving like a normal child - it's like she had always been waiting for the opportunity," Mrs Tatma told Channel 4.
"When she was put in the baby walker she started pushing herself backwards with her legs and burst into laughter with a huge grin on her face. She loves it.
"Every day since she left hospital she's managed to do more and more things that were impossible before.
"The change in Lakshmi's life is amazing. It's hard to believe that three months ago she couldn't move or even crawl, we thought she would never have a normal life."
Laksmhi is now enjoying a new role as an older sister for newborn Sarawati.
"She tries to help me look after Sarawati and thinks she is a grown up. The other children all want to play with her, which makes Lakshmi show off and try even more new things that she couldn't do before."
The Tatma family, who are from a remote village in the northern state of Bihar, have been living near a hospital and school for disabled children in Rajasthan after a local charity offered them accommodation and work while Lakshmi recovered.