…By Enitan Thompson for TDPel Media.
A newborn baby in a hospital in Rajasthan, north India, has been diagnosed with polymelia, an incredibly rare medical condition where a person is born with extra limbs.
In this case, a third limb was seen sprouting from the baby’s back, with the “hand” at the end having only three “fingers”.
Polymelia has so far only been reported a handful of times, and in previous cases, the extra limbs have been amputated to ensure they don’t interfere with a child’s development.
The baby’s name, sex, and method of delivery have not yet been revealed.
Understanding How Extra Limbs Form during Pregnancy
Physicians now have a rough understanding of how extra arms form during pregnancy.
As a foetus develops, two pairs of fleshy buds appear at the four or five week mark that eventually become its limbs.
These buds can occasionally be disrupted and disturbed, leading to more buds forming that develop into extra limbs.
Disturbances can happen later in the foetus’ development, which may explain why the extra limbs are often less developed than the others.
Cases of Polymelia and Conjoined Twins
Babies can also be born with extra limbs in cases of conjoined twins, where one embryo has almost completely withered away.
In 2016, a baby girl in Delhi, northern India, was born with an extra leg sprouting from her back.
Varsha Sena was born with two legs but also had a third limb that was growing sideways out of her spine.
Doctors were able to successfully amputate the unwanted third leg at the end of last month.
Analysis and Commentaries
This story highlights the incredible diversity of the human body and the remarkable variations that can occur during fetal development.
While polymelia is an extremely rare condition, it is a reminder of the complexity and unpredictability of the biological processes that create life.
The fact that physicians now have a rough understanding of how extra limbs form during pregnancy is a testament to the progress of medical science and the ongoing efforts to understand and treat rare genetic conditions.
At the same time, the story raises ethical questions about the management of rare medical conditions and the decision to amputate extra limbs.
While the goal of amputation is to ensure that the child can develop normally and avoid potential health problems, it raises questions about bodily autonomy and the right to bodily integrity.
In some cases, individuals with extra limbs have chosen to keep them and incorporate them into their lives, challenging the traditional medical model that views them as “abnormal” or “deviant”.
As medical technology continues to advance, these ethical questions will become increasingly complex and difficult to resolve.
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