In the summer of 2012, a baby boy named Doudou was born in a farmhouse in Susong, Anhui Province. The family felt that something about him was not quite right as his belly was strangely large. At first, his parents assumed that he had a bit of extra gas in him that would eventually seep out, so didn’t pay it any mind. What bemused them however was that over time Doudou’s belly was getting larger and larger, with the baby eventually refusing to eat. It was only then that the parents took Doudou to hospital.

After doing some tests, doctors told Doudou’s parents that he had a “parasitic foetus” growing inside him, which is every bit as gross as it sounds. The incredibly rare phenomenon occurs when two embryos grow together but do not fully separate, with one embryo maintaining dominance and development over the other. The dominant embryo continues growing healthily while the “parasite” is sustained by its bodily functions and nutrition. After a two-hour operation, an 18-cm long foetus was pulled out of his stomach. Afterward, Doudou began to eat and drink normally once again.

See also: Nanjing Man Discovered to Have Heart Eight Times Larger than Normal

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Keywords: pregnant baby boy in China parasitic foetus