What Should A Young Mum Do Her Baby After Discovering She Was Carrying A ᴍᴇʀᴍᴀɪᴅ-Like Fᴏᴇᴛᴜs In Her ᴡᴏᴍʙ. Sᴄᴀɴs showed her unborn child did not have any ʟᴇɢs, but instead had a tail-like growth
A YOUNG mum aborted her baby after discovering she was carrying a ᴍᴇʀᴍᴀɪᴅ-like foetus in her ᴡᴏᴍʙ. The mum, 23-year-old Wu, was six months pregnant when she went to be examined in Yɪᴄʜᴀɴɢ Cɪᴛʏ, central Cʜɪɴᴀ.
Sᴄᴀɴs showed her unborn child did not have any ʟᴇɢs but instead had a “tail” like growth. The Fᴏᴇᴛᴜs also did not have a ʙʟᴀᴅᴅᴇʀ and had a stunted ʟɪᴠᴇʀ, reports said. Doctors at the hospital told Wu the Fᴏᴇᴛᴜs was suffering from a rare ᴄᴏɴᴅɪᴛɪᴏɴ ᴄᴀʟʟᴇᴅ sɪʀᴇɴᴏᴍᴇʟɪᴀ – “ᴍᴇʀᴍᴀɪᴅ Sʏɴᴅʀᴏᴍᴇ” – a rare congenital deformity in which the ʟᴇɢs are fused together, giving them the appearance of a ᴍᴇʀᴍᴀɪᴅ’s tail.
Despite carrying the child for half a year, Wu ᴀʙᴏʀᴛᴇᴅ the Fᴏᴇᴛᴜs after specialists estimated the baby would only be able to sᴜʀᴠɪᴠᴇ for a few hours after birth. The causes behind ᴍᴇʀᴍᴀɪᴅ Sʏɴᴅʀᴏᴍᴇ are still a ᴍᴇᴅɪᴄᴀʟ mystery, and it is said to only occur once in every 100,000 pregnancies.
Shiloh Pepin, an American dubbed “ᴍᴇʀᴍᴀɪᴅ Girl”, suffered one of the world’s most documented cases of sirenomelia. Despite undergoing 150 ᴏᴘᴇʀᴀᴛɪᴏɴs during her relatively short lifetime, she died in 2009 at the age of 10. There are thought to be only two known sᴜʀᴠɪᴠᴏʀs of ᴍᴇʀᴍᴀɪᴅ Sʏɴᴅʀᴏᴍᴇ in the world today.
