What Is Fetus In Fetu? Doctors Find Embryo Inside 40-Day-Old Boy's Stomach

A fetus was found inside the stomach of a 40-day-old boy in India, leaving doctors shocked. The embryo was successfully removed later through a surgical procedure.

The rare case took place in Motihari in the eastern Indian state of Bihar. The baby boy was having difficulty urinating properly due to bloating in the pelvic region. He was taken to a nearby hospital but his test results shocked doctors.

The results showed that a fetus had developed inside the baby's stomach, India Today reported. Doctors explained the embryo would have formed inside the child while the baby boy was still inside his mother's womb.

The rare phenomenon is called "Fetus in Fetu," Dr. Omar Tabrez, of Rahmania Medical Center, said, adding that such cases are so rare that they are seen in only five patients out of 1,000,000.

When doctors noticed the child's health was declining, they conducted surgery and removed the fetus from his abdomen.

The child has been released from the hospital after the procedure and is doing well.

"We have operated a case of Fetus in Fetu. A Rare congenital parasitic twin," the hospital wrote on his Facebook page Tuesday. "In which a baby was born with a dead fetus in his body. Successfully operated and discharged yesterday."

Fetus in fetu, which translates to "fetus within fetus," is a rare variety of parasitic twins, where one normally developed baby acts as the host twin, while the other develops abnormally, according to Arizona State University. The presence of the malformed, parasitic twin is found inside the body of the other twin.

A similar incident was reported last year after a baby was born with a dead fetus inside her stomach in Israel.

"When the woman came to give birth, we got the impression that the baby had a big tummy," a doctor said at the time. "Because of that, the moment the baby was born, we checked her and realized that we can feel something inside her stomach, so we did ultrasound tests among others. We were surprised to discover that in her stomach was a partially developed fetus."

The fetus was removed from the baby's abdomen after surgery.