A Baby Girl Born Pregnant With Twins In Hong Kong

A baby girl was born pregnant with twins in Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Hong Kong, reported the Hong Kong Medical Journal. The Chinese baby, born with a pair of 8-10 week foetuses in her womb, had to undergo a surgery to remove the twins after 3 weeks of birth. This condition, which is referred to as twin fetus-in-fetu, is extremely rare and happens in one in 500,000 births, say the doctors.

The mother of the infant was suspected to be carrying triplets in her womb, but the fact came as a surprise that, the 9-pound daughter was instead carrying her twin siblings. The foetuses had an umbilical cord each that was connected to a single placenta-like mass. The foetuses with four limbs each had a rib cage, spine, intestine and anus, weighed 14.2 grams and 9.3 grams, quite different from each other.

The condition was quite complicated, as it would be impossible for the little girl to handle the consequences of the misplaced foetuses on her own, said Dr Yu Kai-mai, specialist in obstetrics and gynaecology, reports the South China morning Post. The foetuses fertilised by her mother are misplaced inside the infant, a much complicated fetus-in-fetu condition. The embryos inside the baby could not be detected during pre-natal check-ups because they were too small to be seen, explained Kai-man.

Mass of foetal tissues were found between the liver, kidney and the body cavity of the infant which on removal were found to be two separate foetal structures, read the case report. The mother of the infant could have had one or more previous abortions and that could have been the triggering factor or a condition called teratoma, a non-cancerous tumor containing tissue, hair and even teeth, hypothesised the researchers.

The little girl, who is one among the 200 fetus-in-fetu cases reported worldwide, survived the ire of nature and was discharged from Yau Ma Tei hospital after eight days. To report problems or to leave feedback about this article, e-mail: saranya@ibtimes.com.au