NEW DELHI – A rare medical condition stunned people across the globe and the incident even made headlines as it affected a man who carried his twin in his belly for 36 years.
The incident however is not a recent one as it occurred back in 1999 with a Nagpur resident who spent decades of his life with an enlarged belly until a physician discovered the condition dubbed as ‘fetus in fetu’.
Having female-like features, especially with a woman going through pregnancy, the man was called a ‘pregnant man’ in the locality.
The man identified as Bhagat – now a sexagenarian – ignored the swelling for a long period until the swelling pressed affected his diaphragm and made it difficult for him to inhale. With the serious symptoms, the man was moved to a local medical facility in Mumbai.
Initially, doctors thought the case to be of an enlarged tumour that pressed against the diaphragm, but when the surgeons dissected his belly, they found a dead human being.
The person inside his body was unformed for obvious reasons and was extracted in pieces. First, a limb, then another, the genitalia, jaws, and limbs.
What is Fetus-in-fetu?
Fetus-in-fetu also known as FIF is a rare medical condition in which one body is enclosed within the body of its twin before birth. It’s cases are rare and this is an extremely rare condition; less than 100 cases were reported in the medical literature.
