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03/29/2024 08:05:28 am

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Hong Kong Baby Born Pregnant With Twins

Baby in crib

(Photo : Wikimedia Commons) Experts say, the rare condition called fetus-in-fetu happens once in every 500,000 births.

In an extremely rare situation, a baby from Hong Kong was born, carrying twin fetuses in her abdomen.

The Hong Kong Medical Journal reported, a baby girl was born with two tumors in her abdomen.  Based on examinations, the mass found were actually 8 to 10-week-old twin fetuses. 

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Both fetuses had started sprouting limbs, ribs, intestines and skin.  The twins also had separate umbilical cords connected to the placenta.

The fetuses did not come from the baby herself.  Health experts believe, these were fertilized eggs absorbed by the infant's body as she developed in her mother's womb.

"Since it is impossible for the little girl to have conceived the pregnancy on her own, the fertilization of the twin fetuses, of course, belongs to her parents, which has gone to the wrong place," Dr. Yu Kai-man told the South China Morning Post.

The baby girl, who was born in 2010, underwent a surgery to remove the fetuses in her womb, when she was only two weeks old. 

She recovered well from the procedure.  The rare condition of a baby having a baby, was called fetus-in-fetu, with only 200 cases in history.  Doctors believe, it happens once in every 500,000 births.

In 2006, two fetuses were also removed from inside a two-month-old baby girl in Pakistan. But the doctors explained, the birth was a case of triplets, where two of the siblings grew inside the other.

In most severe cases, the "fetus" is only found at a later time in the carrier's life.

In these rare cases of "fetus-in-fetu," the fetuses only survive inside the carrier, and is considered to be more of a tumor than an actual fetus.

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