In a rare medical condition, a man in India carried his twin in his belly for an astonishing 36 years. The incident, which occurred in 1999, stunned people worldwide and caught the attention of news media.
Bhagat, the man in question, had ignored the swelling in his stomach for years until it became severe, making it hard for him to breathe. Physicians eventually diagnosed him with a condition called fetus in fetu, in which one twin’s body encloses within another twin’s body before their birth. In Bhagat’s case, the person inside him was unformed and had long-since died.
Doctors initially assumed his condition to be an enlarged tumor pressing against the diaphragm. However, upon surgery, they discovered the twin nested inside Bhagat’s belly. The process of removal was a delicate one, with the team removing the adjacent body parts to free the twin, piece by piece.
Fetus-in-fetu, or FIF, is a very rare condition, with less than a hundred reported cases in medical literature. Due to Bhagat’s unique condition and female-like features, which were reminiscent of a pregnant woman, the incident made headlines and intrigued audiences worldwide.
Although Bhagat is now a sexagenarian, his case remains an essential reference point for medical professionals studying the rare FIF condition.
