Conjoined twins attached at the forehead have undergone tests to begin the process of separating them – despite the risk of them dying during the operation.

Joy and Joyce Magsino, 10, from the Philippines, were born with angular frontal partial craniopagus. 

Their family are desperate for them to lead normal lives and are prepared to take the risk of losing one or both of them, reports the Daily Mail.

They were told they needed £75,000 to pay for the life-changing surgery but father Patrick Magsino, 30, and mother Jomarie stood no chance of raising the funds on their own.

Their parents said at the time of their birth a local charity offered to pay for medical treatment of the girls but they stopped helping in 2014 when medics said the operation could kill them.

Now, new pictures of the twins have been released showing them in a hospital in San Juan, located east of Manila, as they underwent tests in preparation for the separation procedure.

The family tried desperately to save for the twins' treatment but Patrick's salary is just £6 a day. 

His wife has even emigrated to work abroad in an effort to get enough money, leaving the girls in the care of their relatives.

It is not clear how they have managed to pay for the cost of the pricey operation. 

Back in September, a family spokesperson said: 'The doctors said the operation would be quite risky as one nerve connects the girls and it would have to be connected within seconds or else one of them would die. That is when the foundation withdrew their support.' 

The twins' father Patrick Magsino, 30, earns just £6 a day as a market assistant porter, while his wife Jomarie emigrated to Qatar to work as a maid in order to save up for the separation procedure. 

Magsino previously said: 'We have been trying hard to organised the funds for the past five years after the doctors confirmed that the girls can be separated, but we haven't been able to garner even one third of it so far.

'I am seeking help from hospitals in countries such as the UK, the US and India.

'I'd be open to any procedure where the safety of both my girls will be ensured.

'Also, expenses should be covered as well, because on my own I would never be able to afford their treatment.' 

Magsino added: 'When the girls were born they were fed through a plastic tube but today they are playful.

'It has become hard to control them especially because they now want to be separated.

'The twins have developed a great sense of understanding, but they occasionally fight over doing their preferred activities.

'Joyce has a cleft lip and is the dominant of the two twins and usually manages to get her way in most situations.'