Newborn Girl In China Suffered From The Rare Condition Fetus In Fetu

A newborn girl in China was born "pregnant" with twins, due to an extremely rare condition known as fetus in fetu. It's estimated that this has only happened about 200 times in the history of documentation or less than 1 in 500,000 births.

Fetus in fetu is a rare developmental aberration, characterized by encasement of partially developed monozygotic, diamniotic, and monochorionic fetus into the normally developing host. The term was first coined during the late 18th century when a malformed parasitic twin was found encased in the host.

Doctors had thought the baby had two tumors in her abdomen. However, they found out later that she was holding onto eight to 10-week-old fetuses.

Reported sites have ranged from the following: abdomen, scrotum, cranium, kidneys, adrenals, mediastinum, and even lymph nodes. Now, the World Health Organization (WHO) has classified fetus in fetu as a type of cancer that's called mature teratoma.

More information regarding the findings can be seen via the Hong Kong Medical Journal.