Baby Boy Born ‘Pregnant’ With His Twin Brother

A baby boy in India was born ‘pregnant’ with his twin brother in what doctors suspect a ‘foetus in fetu’ twin pregnancy.

Doctors at Bilal Hospital in Mumbra, India were shocked to discover another foetus inside the unnamed baby boy who was born last month.

Radiologist Dr Bhavna Thorat, who spotted the problem during a routine scan on the 19-year-old mother, from Mumbra, at Bilal Hospital in early July, said that the foetus was ‘inside a fetal sac of the newborn.’

When the baby was born nine days later on July 20, Dr Thorat scanned the baby and found ‘another small baby’ inside the newborn’s abdomen. He described the male twin as half-formed – complete with a brain, arm and legs – behind the otherwise-healthy baby boy’s stomach.

“I could see bones of the upper and lower limbs of the foetus. The unique thing about it was I could see a tiny head with the brain inside. However, this parasitic twin didn’t have a skull bone,” he said.

The newborn was taken to Titan Hospital in Thane for surgery to remove the 7cm mass, weighing 150g, which doctors suspect was a rare ‘foetus in fetu’ twin pregnancy – one of around 200 ever recorded in the world.

Gynecologist Dr Neena Nichlani explained that the baby boy’s case is called ‘a ‘monozygotic twin pregnancy’, sharing single placenta, where one foetus wraps itself around and envelops the other and robs the host of its nutrition.’

“It can be implanted in skull, abdomen or tail bone of the host. Sometimes it can also lead to the death of the host because both get nutrition from a single cord,” Dr Nichlani said.

The foetus has been sent for further testing.