No. You’re not reading that headline incorrectly.
A baby has been born in Hong Kong with two growths on her abdomen, later discovered to be her ‘absorbed’ siblings.
The baby girl was born with a mass between her liver and left kidney, later found to be made up of two partially formed foetus-like structures. The growths included a developing spine, intestines, bones with bone marrow, a rib cage, “primitive” brain matter, and an umbilical cord attached to a rudimentary placenta, according to a study published by the Hong Kong Medical Journal.
As the baby girl and the partially formed foetuses shared the same DNA, researchers believe the mother was originally pregnant with identical triplets, though they say this is impossible to conclude. They believe the pregnancy could have progressed normally in the womb up to the ten-week mark, before one foetus absorbed the two other fertilised eggs.
Read more: She was born without a womb. And she just gave birth to a healthy baby boy.
This condition, called foetus-in-fetu, is rare. Only 1 in every 500,000 births or so are affected.
Dr. Jane Corteville, an OB/GYN at University Hospitals Case Medical Centre who has studied teratomas and foetus-in-fetu, told ABC News that it’s hard to determine what happened because the growth was not found in the first five weeks of gestation.
“I think we see these on occasion and they’re bizarre,” she said. “And I think they do give us kind of some insight maybe — but not very much — into what happens during early development.”
Read more: The wombs that brought these two women into the world, also delivered their children.
The baby has now had surgery to have the masses removed. Of course, we hope they will go on to lead a long and happy life – with one very unusual story to tell.
