It has been discovered that a Chinese baby born in 2010 with what were believed to be two tumors in her abdomen, was actually pregnant with twin fetuses.
While this may sound impossible, "fetus in fetu" is actually a documented condition that occurs in 1 in 500,000 births reported throughout the world.
While the abnormality occurred five years ago it is only now being reported in the Hong Kong Medical Journal
While the reasons for the abnormality are largely unknown, in an interview with the South China Morning Post, Dr Yu Kai-man, a specialist in obstetrics and gynecology explained how such an impregnation of an unborn baby is possible.
"Since it is impossible for the little girl to have conceived the pregnancy on her own, the fertilization of the twin fetuses, of course, belongs to her parents, which has gone to the wrong place."
World Health Organization classifies the abnormality as a variant of mature teratoma, a type of cancer. Others have suggested that the condition might be more common among mothers who have multiple abortions, which is a common practice in China.
The fetuses were believed to be of 8 to 10 weeks of gestation, each had four limbs, a spine, rib cage, intestines and anus. The newborn underwent successful surgery at three weeks to have the fetuses removed.
Less than 200 cases of twin fetus-in-fetu have been reported worldwide.
H/T: Newser