Conjoined twins Shivanath and Shivram Sahu, who have just turned 18, have said they have no regrets after turning down the chance to be separated.

The pair, from Khenda Village in the Baloda Bazar district of India, were first brought to the attention of the international community after a video of them washing and dressing themselves was widely shared online in 2014.

Following this, the twins - who are joined at the waist and share two legs and four arms - were approached by several doctors who offered to split them, but the duo are determined to remain together.

They are now said to be too old for the operation but couldn't be happier with their decision.

Speaking to Barcroft TV, Shivanath said: 'We can't get separated now even if we wanted to. It was possible when we were kids but now it is impossible. The doctors told us that we can't be operated on.

'But we don't want to do anything anyway. We want to stay like this. We have a very unique gift from God. We consider ourselves as two bodies but one soul.

They are able to walk down the stairs of their simple split-level home and even run on all six limbs to play cricket and other games with neighbouring children.  

They are also talented academics and considered among the top students at their local school, much to the pride of their doting father, Raj Kumar.

The labourer, who is married to Srimati and has five daughters, is very protective of his two sons and was keen for them to stay together.  

Conjoined twins occur when the zygote, the initial cell formed by sexual reproduction, fails to completely separate.

It is thought to occur in roughly one in every 50,000 births, but just one per cent make it to their first birthday and two-thirds are stillborn.

Source: dailymail.co.uk