A startling and exceptionally rare medical case has been reported in India. According to Nova24.uz citing The Times of India, doctors at Fortis Gurgaon hospital surgically removed two parasitic twins from the abdomen of a one-month-old infant.
The baby was admitted to the hospital on July 27 due to abdominal swelling, feeding issues, and irritability. Initial scans revealed an unusual mass in the abdomen. Further investigation confirmed the presence of two malformed fetal structures inside the child’s body.
Experts described this condition as “fetus in fetu” — a rare phenomenon where a fetus develops inside another fetus. It occurs in roughly 1 in 500,000 live births, often resulting when one embryo absorbs another very early during pregnancy.
In this case, the mother was pregnant with triplets, but one fetus absorbed the other two, which continued to grow parasitically inside its body.
Globally, fewer than 300 such cases have been recorded, and only 10% involved multiple parasitic fetuses, making this instance even more extraordinary.
These stories remind us of the complexity — and unpredictability — of human development. Have you ever heard of anything like this before?
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