In a village close to Pindwara, northern India, 22-year-old Kuli Bai was in total shock when she gave birth to her baby boy.
The boy was born with an extreme case of a condition known as having a ‘parasitic twin’, the Daily Mail reports.
Parasitic twins occur when a twin embryo starts developing in the utero, but the pair does not fully separate. One embryo, meanwhile, maintains dominant development at the expense of its twin, which weakens.
As result of the deformation, Kuli’s son was born with four legs, 3 hands and 2 penises.
When the parents first saw the baby boy, they were horrified. The mother’s family, being religious, felt the boy was an evil omen and wanted to dump him in a river, the Daily Mail reports.
Luckily, news of the unusual baby was already known all over the village and had made its way to Dr. Bharat Pal Danda of the Matra Chhaya Hospital.
“I was very shocked when I heard these relatives, who seem extremely religious and superstitious, were planning to kill the baby by throwing him into the river,” the doctor tells the Daily Mail. “I couldn’t sit back and do nothing.”
He sent an ambulance to pick up the mother and baby. The baby was in critical condition and it was clear that urgent surgery was needed for him to survive.
The child was transferred to the SMS Medical Institute and Hospital, in the closest city.
The long and risky surgery required a team of four doctors. In the end, the complicated procedure was a success — they managed to effectively remove the baby’s parasitic twin and the boy survived.
“We have now removed the extra limbs and intestines that were restricted to the parasitic twin,” Dr Parveen Mathur, who carried out the surgery, told the Daily Mail. “The boy is currently doing well but we will continue to keep him under observation for at least a week.”
The hospital was no stranger to this type of rare condition, and had performed a similar surgery just three months earlier.
Thank goodness that news of this boy and his unfortunate condition spread to heroic Dr. Bharat Pal Dana — otherwise he may have been killed.
We are all born differently and no one is perfect. Many babies worldwide are born with deformities which can scare any new parent. But this never justifies wanting to end the child’s life. A child is always innocent and helpless.
Please consider sharing this story if you agree that all newborn babies have the same right to life.