A teenager who complained of stomach pain has undergone surgery after doctors discovered the foetus of his unborn twin inside him.
The 15-year-old had been carrying the growing foetus since birth but only became unwell in the past four months.
His is believed to the first reported case of ‘foetus in foetu’ in Malaysia, a phenomenon that occurs in only 1 in every 500,000 births.
Mohd Zul Shahril Saidin’s mother Hasmah Ahmad told reporters that the foetus had hair, legs, hands and genitals.
She told reporters: ‘The foetus removed from my son’s stomach was formed with organs like those of a baby – only the nose and mouth were not complete.’
Mohd Zul Shahril is the fifth of eight children and funeral rites have already been carried out on the foetus which is now buried in a local cemetery..
The 15-year-old is still recovering in hospital.
What is foetus in foetu?
The rare condition occurs in early pregnancy of twins which share a placenta.
One foetus wraps around and envelops the other, which then becomes dependent on the larger twin for survival.
The ‘parasitic twin normally cannot survive on its own and usually dies before birth.
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