The parents of a two-year-old boy from the town of Pandan in Antique province are calling for financial assistance to surgically remove a ‘fetus’ discovered in their son’s abdominal cavity.
A news report by GMA News TV said that doctors discovered the abnormal growth in the toddler’s stomach in June of this year, after his parents took him for a check-up. The toddler was experiencing difficulty in breathing and walking, prompting his parents to seek medical attention.
The boy has been diagnosed with a condition known as “fetus in fetu;” a developmental abnormality in which a mass of tissue resembling a fetus forms inside the body.
Medical experts say that the condition is caused either by a normal fetus becoming enveloped inside its twin, or that the mass is a highly developed type of tumor known as a teratoma.
“Fetus in fetu” occurs in approximately 1 in 500,000 live births.