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Bearing Your Own Twin? How Can It Be?

ABCNews -- Doctors in Greece Thursday removed from the belly of a 9-year-old girl what they believe was her embryonic twin absorbed into her abdomen when they were both in the womb. Andreas Markou, head of the pediatric department at Larissa General Hospital in Athens, said the 2-inch-long embryo removed from the girl's belly was a fetus with a head, hair and eyes, but no brain or umbilical cord, according to The Associated Press. It is phenomenon called "fetus in fetu," or baby within a baby, said Jay Grosfeld, a professor of pediatric surgery at Indiana University who has written about the "exceptionally rare" condition. In the first month of pregnancy while developing in the womb, Grosfeld said, one twin "enters into the other through the...
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7.4.08 - Updated 9:36am ET
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