Sanju Bhagat had a rare medical condition in which he had to live with his twin for 36 years without him knowing until he was hospitalized after experiencing severe pain in his stomach. Yes, his twin was inside his stomach all this time, feeding on him, and was alive until the doctors removed it from him.
Sanju Bhagat, a farmer from India, was born in Nagpur in 1963. He had a big stomach that looked like a huge tumor in his belly, similar to a nine-month pregnant woman. People in his community often made fun of him, calling him a “pregnant man.” Despite this, Sanju continued to work hard as a farmer. Nobody knew why his stomach was so big. But surprisingly, the teasing about him being pregnant wasn’t entirely wrong.
When he was a young boy, he didn’t seem to have any health issues, even though he had a protruding belly. But as he grew older, his stomach began to increase in size strangely, especially when he was in his twenties. At first, Sanju didn’t think much about it, but as he reached his early 30s, he started having trouble breathing. His stomach was getting bigger too. At that point, it became tough for him to do simple daily tasks, like working on his farm or even just getting through the day. This made it even harder for him to provide enough food for his family.
Then, in 1999, he collapsed and was rushed to the hospital in Mumbai. Everyone, even the doctors, thought he had a tumor in his belly. But during surgery, something shocking happened. When the doctors cut open Sanju’s stomach, they didn’t find a tumor. Instead, they discovered another human being inside him. Unbelievably, little by little, they pulled out limbs, hair, and other bits of human anatomy. Turns out, Sanju had been carrying around the body of his twin brother inside his belly for 36 years without knowing.
During the operation, Dr. Ajay Mehta of Tata Memorial Hospital in Mumbai, India, encountered the fetus of Bhagat’s unborn twin, which had continued to grow parasitically inside his abdomen, attached directly to his blood supply. The twin weighed 4 kg (9 lb), of which 1 kg (2 lb) was hair.
Sanju was suffering from a rare medical condition called Fetus in Fetu, also popularly known as the ‘vanishing twin syndrome.’ In this case, Bhagat’s twin was reabsorbed by him, leading to one twin being literally born inside the other. Basically, the inside twin lives like a parasite but usually, the ‘host’ twin would realize something was happening – not ignoring it like Bhagat.
Sanju Bhagat’s story was amazing because he had his twin inside his stomach for 36 years. Usually, both babies die when they’re born because it’s hard for them to share their mother’s food supply. But Sanju somehow survived when he was born, lived for 36 years with his twin inside him, and even survived surgery to remove it. After that, he lived a pretty normal life. It’s really impressive!
Sanju Bhagat had a strange medical condition. Doctors thought it was amazing, like a miracle. But for Sanju, it wasn’t wonderful at all. Instead, it made him feel really bad. People who lived close to him kept making fun of him, which made him feel embarrassed and very unhappy.
Being born pregnant is so rare it has only been documented 200 times, but it does happen. But it did happen to a baby girl in November 2010. Doctors thought she had two tumors in her belly, but they were actually two tiny babies. They were about 8 to 10 weeks old and had very little weight. Each of them had arms, legs, a spine, ribs, intestines, and a bottom. They were connected by a tube to something like a placenta. A doctor said that since the little girl couldn’t have made these babies on her own, it must have happened because of her parents. (Source
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The baby girl carrying the fetuses underwent successful surgery to remove them at just two weeks of age. The condition, called fetus in fetu, is thought to occur in 1 in 500,000 births worldwide. The World Health Organization has classified it as a type of cancer called mature teratoma, but researchers write “the theory of demised multiple pregnancies has gained much support recently. More evidence is needed to confirm either theory.”
Estela Meléndez’s case
There is another miraculous case of a fetus remaining in the human body for 60 years. This is the case of Estela Meléndez, who had a lump on her belly for many years but had no idea that she was carrying a fetus.
In 2015, doctors in a little town called La Boca in Chile made a surprising discovery. They found a fetus, which is a developing baby, inside the belly of 91-year-old Estela Meléndez. This fetus had turned into a hard substance called calcified. The woman was shocked because she claimed she never knew she was going to have a baby.
According to CNN, at first, doctors believed a lump on Ms. Melendez’s stomach was a tumor. But a second x-ray revealed it was a “calcified fetus.” This condition, called lithopedion or ‘stone baby,’ happens when a pregnancy doesn’t develop properly. The fetus becomes surrounded by a hard, calcified layer that protects the mother from its dead tissue.
Meléndez lived in La Boca, a small town, where the Rapel River meets the Pacific Ocean. She had trouble hearing and walks slowly because of arthritis, but overall, she was doing okay. In 2015, she fell and doctors found something unusual on her X-ray. “They said I had a tumor and needed surgery,” Meléndez told CNN. But when they checked again, they discovered it wasn’t a tumor—it was a fetus.
“I have the lump here,” Meléndez said, touching her belly. This discovery shocked Meléndez and her family. Her husband, Manuel González, died earlier this year at 91. They had wanted children but were unable to conceive. “We suffered tremendously because of this reason,” Meléndez said.
“Can you imagine? More than 60 years!” said Luis Meléndez, her nephew. “I wonder how she never felt bad once the fetus died inside of her.” Doctors thought about surgery to remove the fetus but decided it was too risky for a 91-year-old. Meléndez says it sometimes hurts, but mostly it’s just uncomfortable. She said the lump reminds her of her husband and their dream of having a child.
