View x-rays: Baby girl born already 'pregnant' with twins

A baby girl with rare, mysterious medical condition was found to be ‘pregnant’ with twins when born.

18:12 09 February 2015

A baby girl born to Chinese mainland parents had to undergo surgery at just three weeks old to remove fetuses, which were eight to ten weeks gestated. They are already covered in skin with legs, arms, a spine, rib cage, and intestine function. One of the twins weighed 14.2 grammes and the other 9.3 grammes – each had an umbilical cord.

The baby girl was discharged eight days after the surgery, which was declared successful by surgeons at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Hong Kong.

The condition, known as fetus in fetu occurs in just one in 500,000 births in the world and less than 200 cases have ever been reported, so this case garnered particular attention.

Dr Yu Kai-man, a specialist in obstetrics and gynaecology, said: ‘It was almost impossible to detect during the prenatal check-up, as the embryo inside the baby was too small.

‘Since it is impossible for the little girl to have conceived the pregnancy on her own, the fertilisation of the twin fetuses, of course, belongs to her parents, which has gone to the wrong place.’