A 2-year-old boy gave birth to his conjoined twin in China. On Oct. 2, it was reported that the boy had breathing difficulties and a swollen stomach when he was rushed to the hospital. After completing some tests, doctors found that the boy actually had a fetus inside of his stomach. The parasitic twin was removed during surgery. Doctors say that the dead fetus had a fully formed spine and limbs. It was taking up 2/3 of the boy's stomach. If not removed, the boy could have died.
While this occurrence is rare, similar instances have occurred. In 2011 to a young child in Peru gave birth to his twin and in 2006, a 36-year-old man in India went through the same thing. Conjoined twins do have a decent survival rate -- but that's only if one twin isn't absorbed into the other, which is what happened in these cases. Fortunately, all of these cases have happy endings -- and super weird stories to tell.
© Effie Orfanides 2013
