A baby boy was born with his dead twin inside him.
The 7cm half-formed brother, with a brain and limbs, was found lying behind the stomach of the otherwise healthy baby.
The twin pregnancy is one of fewer that 200 recorded in the world.
Doctors were astonished when they discovered a newborn boy was ‘pregnant’ - with his own twin brother.
Medics discovered the half-formed baby - complete with a brain, arm and legs - behind the otherwise-healthy new baby boy’s stomach after he was born.
They successfully operated to remove the 7cm mass which they now suspect was a rare ‘Fetus in fetu’ twin pregnancy - one of less than 200 ever recorded in the world.
The 19-year-old mother and her son from Mumbra, in Thane city near Mumbai in India, are now both healthy and doing well.
Gynecologist Dr Neena Nichlani said: “It is a case of monozygotic twin pregnancy sharing single placenta, where one fetus 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.
“The parasitic baby was lying behind the stomach deriving its nutrition from the host.
“The parasitic baby has been sent for further testing, reports are awaited.
“The parasitic baby is a male of about 6 to 7cm in length, weighing around 150g and of abnormal development.”
Radiologist Dr. Bhavna Thorat spotted the abnormality during a routine scan of the pregnant mother at Bilal Hospital in Mumbra in early July.
When the baby was born nine days later on July 20 he scanned the baby and found “another small baby” inside the newborn’s abdomen.
Dr Thorat added: “It was inside a fetal sac of the newborn.
“I could see bones of the upper and lower limbs of the fetus.
“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.”
The new born was shifted to Titan Hospital in Thane for successful surgery.
“The baby is now doing extremely well, and the mother will begin feeding him soon,” Dr. Nichlani added.
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