Hospitalised for surgery
Abdul Malek, who has been carrying the unborn embryo of his twin since his birth 40 years ago, has been admitted to the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) for surgery.
Although not fully developed, the fetus (unborn offspring), is still alive and has grown up receiving nutrition from Malek’s body, doctors say.
Prof MA Jalil of medicine department, who is supervising Malek’s treatment since his admission on Saturday, said the fetus entered his body due to developmental anomaly in his mother’s womb.
“There was a monozygotic twin at the mother’s womb. During the development process, one embryo somehow went inside the other and could not develop. That is why Malek is now carrying that embryo,” he told The Daily Star yesterday.
They will fix the date of operation today.
Malek’s case is not the first of its kind at BSMMU. In 2005, Prof MA Majid conducted a similar surgery on a 16-year-old boy from Bhola who was carrying a fetus.
According to experts, 90 such cases have been found across the world.
Malek’s brother Belal Hossain said they took him to Shaheed Ziaur Rahman Medical College in Bogra, their hometown, early this month following his repeated complaint of abdominal pain. “After doing an ultrasonogram and a CT scan, doctors said he has been carrying an unborn baby,” he said.
His abdomen began to swell from the age of seven. He has been suffering from malnutrition for long and has some mental problem, Belal said.
Doctors, however, say they have yet to find any link between the fetus and his mental problem.
Courtesy of The Daily Star
