Somewhat Unusual: The Most Disturbing Deformations and Abnormalities in Human History

You may have read on my previous articles on The most horrible diseases ever to tremble the world, The most horrible diseases ever to tremble the world 2 (or “weirdest and horrible diseases you never seen before”), and The most horrible diseases ever to tremble the world 3 (which presents you some bizarre, odd and unbelievable tumors) and now this article is the forth series of these dreadful and horrible diseases. In this series, I’ll focus on the deformations and abnormalities among the babies. Attached along with the end of the texts are some practical ways (particularly for pregnant moms) to help avoid the occurrence of such tragic.

Updated: The latest article: The most horrible diseases ever to tremble the world 5 (or The deadliest and most horrible diseases that shock the world).

Deformations and abnormalities are a condition in which there is an abnormal change of structure, function, or an anatomic structure that may result in physical and mental disabilities or may be fatal at times of birth. In certain conditions, a specific body part may be found missing or formed incorrectly or extra structure may be formed to a location where it shouldn’t be or when there’s an inborn problem that might due to the result of congenital problems. Deformations and abnormalities in babies may also occur due to congenital infections, lower immunity, pathogenic infections, environmental factor, metabolic or structural defects, multifactorial birth defect, depleted uranium (DU) or radiation exposure, genetic, and other unknown causes.

Note: Due to that some images may have caused you discomfort feeling, and thus they were not attached along with the related texts.

Baby Born with Three Arms

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One incredible baby boy named Jie-jie was born with three arms in Anhui Province, eastern part of China. He had two left arms and one right arm, in which one of his left arms lacks the palm, while the bone of the other one is curved in his elbow. Though his two left arms were fully developed, neither of them was fully functional.

“I have never witnessed such a strange abnormality during my practice in medicine. For the time being we do not know the reason which led to such a deformity,” the chairman of the orthopedic surgery of the Chinese hospital said. The doctors then made up their minds to amputate one of his left arms.

Baby Born with Eight Toes

On November 5, 2008, one healthy little boy was born in Leizhou, Southeast Guangdong Province, southern part of China. At a first glance, he may look not much difference from other normal babies, but what made him triggered the media attention was his toes. He had eight toes on each foot, summing up to 16 toes altogether. Another rare condition of his was his fingers. He had five fingers on each hand, but he didn’t have thumbs. Doctor believed that his rare condition was either due to a genetic problem called Polydactylism or environmental pollution.

Baby Born with Two Heads

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A baby boy called Kiron weighing 12lbs 1oz was a son of a farmer’s wife, Putul Biswas. Kiron was born by Cesarean section on August 25, 2008 in Keshobpur, 85 miles from Dhaka. Kiron was unusual as he had one body conjoined with two complete heads, together with his double pair of ears, mouths and eyes. Even though he was able to eat through both mouths, he had only owned one stomach.

KS Alam, one of the doctors who treated the baby said, “We wanted to refer him to a hospital in Dhaka but the family was so poor that they could not afford to take him there, so they took him home where he died.”

Kiron, however, passed away after being born two days due to a fever and breathing difficulties. Both of his Bangladeshi parents were unable to afford treatments that could prolong his life due to a financial constrain. More than 150,000 people gathered outside the clinic which is located in the town of Keshobpur to witness this tragic sight. Some of them had left his family money. One Hindu worshipper said, “Kiron is not a medical curiosity, but was sent from heaven as blessings from the Gods.”

As in a case of Kiron, one baby girl weighing 2.8kg was born with two complete heads (that are similar to those of two normal identical [monozygotic] twins with noses, eyes, ears and mouths) at 11a.m., May 9, 2007 by cesarean operation at Ninh Giang District General Hospital. Besides the two heads, she also had two separate distinct necks, two backbones, two legs, two hands, two kidneys, one liver, one spleen, two lungs, one heart, one bladder and one female genitalia.

Since the health examination revealed her severe respiratory failure and weak health, she was later taken special care at the Hanoy-based Central Pediatrics Hospital. She is a little baby of a 28-year-old woman, a kindergarten teacher in Ninh Giang district, a place located in the northern province of Hai Duong.

There was none abnormalities detected from her mom, but it was surprising that she was given birth to this two-headed baby. Doctor Bui Quoc Khanh, Director of the Ninh Giang General Hospital further remarked, “The two heads cried like normal newborn babies when they were taken from their mother’s uterus.”

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Similar to the above two cases, a 26-year-old Egyptian woman, as reported by Cairo daily Al-Akhbar, gave birth to a two-headed baby girl in 2003. The baby was delivered by Caesarean section at a hospital in Assiut. Huda (top) and Manal Abdel Nasser Mohammed Mahmoud was then placed under neo-natal surgical intensive care unit in Abu el-Reesh Hospital in Cairo.

Parasitic twins, Rebeca Martinez was another peculiar case to discuss here. She was born on December 17, 2003 in the Dominican Republic with the rare conditions of the modern case that is known as Craniopagus parasiticus (or parasite twin diseases). Rebeca was born conjoining at the head (when an embryo splits to make identical twins and later stop growing), leaving her one undeveloped head of the twin attached on the top of her skull. This rare case is estimated one out of every 2.5 million births. The doctor then decided to remove Rebeca’s parasitic head, which was seemed growing faster than her own normal head, because the doctor feared that the pressure from the growth would hinder her brain development if the second head was left ignored. These two heads shared the similar arteries with the individual brain. Her parasitic head was partially joined to the brain, and there were eyes, ears and mouths on the second head. Though a complex surgery managed to remove her parasitic head, due to the post-surgical bleeding problem (the loss of substantial amount of blood during the procedure), Rebeca left us at around 6a.m. on February 7, 2004. This pretty and innocent child was finally succumbed under the threat of the world’s rarest birth defects..

The babies here were said to engage with bicephaly, a condition of possessing two heads conjoining to one body. Mutations (errors in human DNA), radiation, improper incubating, environmental pollution, improper use of drug, contamination or other man-made factor is identified as a factor that might have contributed to bicephaly. These two headed babies may appear odd and rare to you, but instead they’ve long been documented and existed in human history. Not only bicephaly can happen in human, but it can also happen in snakes (about 400 cases of two-headed snakes have been recorded in history), tortoises, goats, turtles, lizards, cattles, eagles, cats, dogs, sheep, pigs, fish and even amongst fossil reptiles during the dinosaur era.

Baby Born with Penis on the Back

A Chinese little baby was born with another extra penis attached to the spine and nervous system of his back. He was then undergone a 3-hour-long surgery to have his second penis removed successfully. After the surgery, the baby was shown no signs of nerve damage. According to the doctor, this condition was due to fetus in fetu (FIF), which occurred when twins fail to develop in the womb and thus resulting one to become conjoined. Very often, the occurrence of FIF is due to a disability development, in which a mass of tissue resembling a fetus forms in the human body.

Similar to him, a boy named Artyom G was also born with two penises in Russia, a similar rare condition of FIF. His existence, undoubtedly, had triggered shock to both his parents and the world. Despite his mom’s normal pregnancy, he was born with two sex organs but without a stomach wall. He was then rushed to St. Vladimir’s Children’s Clinical Hospital to undergo a 5-hour-operation. Doctor remarked that they had to form one penis out of two, to make the abdominal wall and to create a bladder. Though the surgery was complicated, it was successful and the doctor reassured that Artyom will grow into a healthy and fully functional man.

Baby Born with “Lobster” Feature

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One Peruvian woman, Marisol Chavez gave birth to a baby weighing 2.5kg in a rare congenital disorder known as Arthrogryposis or curvature of the joints (also known as Arthrogryposis Multiplex Congenita) in September 2006. The baby was perceived as a “lobster baby” due to that his legs and arms were deformed and wrapped like claw-looking limbs around his body, in which these limbs mimic those from the lobster. Apparently, his leg bones were bent at a 90-degree angle from his body, while his hands were distorted outward as though his tiny elbows hug his chest.

According to the sources, there’s only found in one limb in about one case in every 3,000 births in the United States. However, the condition of this baby (whose name called Moises Chavez) was less common since Moises was born with four limbs affected. Dr. Luis Rubio believed that the amniotic bands within the mother’s amniotic sack got tangled up around the fifth month of pregnancy, wrapping the baby in a mummy-like position and preventing his arms and legs from growing.

Alien-looking Babies

Harlequin babies (also called harlequins, or harlequin fetuses) are referred to those suffering from a type of skin disease called Harlequin-type ichthyosis (Ichthyosis fetalis, keratosis diffusa fetalis, harlequin ichthyosis, Harlequin fetus or ichthyosis congenita). There’re very rare cases of them that can hardly survive to adulthoods. Every one out of 300,000 babies may be born with such horrible birth defect. It’s by far regarded as the most serious form of congenital ichthyosis which causes the hardening of the keratin layer in human skin. The skin appears as diamond-shaped scales (resemble the coustume of Arlecchino) due to severe hyperkeratosis, reddish in color and the cracked skin may also expose the baby to other pathogenic infections.

Their mouths are round, large and open; their skins are seen to crack elsewhere just like scales of a fish. Their eyes are stuffed with lumps of coagulated blood, and popped out. In addition to these external features, they’ve no external ears but two holes and back part of their heads is seen much open; they’ve a strange low nose, and their limbs appear to be cramped up and swollen.

Another similar case was the baby born in 1735 by a 28-year-old German woman, Johanna Sophia Schmied, who came from a village near Leipzig. This deformed baby resembles the alien that is usually depicted in the alien autopsy movies. Certain individuals perceived that this deformity was due to the genetic manipulation by extraterrestrials. The baby didn’t have a human feature because the bone structure deviated in many characteristics from a normal human being. One of the obvious examples is that there seemed none of two bones (such as radius and ulna) found in the lower arms as they’re commonly seen in a normal human structure. In addition to this, the caps or patella were also not present in the knees. Nonetheless, the tumor-like growth was seen to completely fill with brain matter.

Whatever its source turns out to be, this alien-looking baby, undoubtedly, has raised a controversy debate while resulting in endless doubts. Nonetheless, this baby was not created by the scientists themselves, as it was preserved in formaldehyde, pressed into a 16-inch-high glass and is kept in a little museum in Waldenburg, a small city in the Germany region of Saxonia. Indeed, it’s a fact that beyond the thinking of the human. What do you think then? 

Snake-faced Baby

This snake baby was born in October, 2008 by a woman from Makkah (Arab) who was given birth to her third child. This is a real story, it was not invented instead. This baby whose name called Yiran Babek had a snake-looking face. She was believed to suffer from a genetic disease called Harlequin Ichthyosis (as mentioned earlier under the subtitle “alien-looking babies”). Nevertheless, experts believed that this baby was a result of the exposure of radiations and chemicals. Looking at this innocent baby, my heart felt broken. There must be a great deal of pain and suffering that this innocent child has to go through!

Baby Born with a Tail  

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More people crowded the temples throughout India just to witness a baby born with a 10-cm-long tail (due to genetic mutations during the development of the fetus) in 2001. The local believed that the baby was a reincarnated Hindu God. He was named Balaji or Bajrangbali, a name given to a monkey-faced god, Lord Hanuman. His grandfather even showed the Indian newspaper, Tribune, nine spots of Balaji, evidence to which is what Lord Hanuman supposedly had. Some enquire whether this human “tail” is indeed an evidence of evolution and this issue seems to debut controversy among the communities.

Baby Human Frog

When you look at this baby, you’ll probably first yell, “Gosh!” Yes, this was a real baby. This was a human frog that was born by a woman in the Luxor General Hospital. Apparently, the baby was transformed into an external appearance resembling the external feature of a frog that you may have come across around the pond. Well, this sounds bizarre and strange to you, but please don’t curse or hoax at this baby. While examining closely, doctor found that this baby was born without a neck, without reproduction organs and even without a brain. He survived no longer than 24 hours but was found dead after 2 hours being born. The medical professionals confirmed that his mother didn’t take any medications before and during her delivery. Nonetheless, his mom was said to marry to his dad who had a close relative relationship. Of course, relative marriage will always cause babies deformation but not to such a degree that the baby was transformed into a shape of a frog. The existence of this baby will definitely shock the medical world!

Baby Born with Two Faces

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A baby girl named Lali was born at Saifai Hospital with two faces and one body. She was suffering from an extremely peculiar condition, scientifically termed as craniofacial duplication, a condition in which a baby was born with two pairs of eyes, two mouths, and two noses. She also had one dimple on a shared cheek. She was born to a family of Vinod Singh and his partner Sushma.

Similar to a case of Lakshmi Tatma, her birth was welcomed by the villagers with claps and blessings as she was being hailed as a miracle baby, and they believed that she was a holy reincarnation. Despite her deformity, Lali was cheered and celebrated because the local believed that she was a reincarnation of a Hindu god called Lord Ganesh (the half person and half elephant, and the one most worshipped by the Hindus), and many people flocked to converge at the Gautam Budh Nagar district of Uttar Pradesh Village (50km northeast of New Delhi) to see her with gifts, money and best wishes, and to touch her feet. The village math teacher, Harsharan Singh said, “It’s a gift of God…Some people say she’s like a goddess. They call the baby a face of a goddess.” The Indian newspapers also placed the headline “Indians worship baby born with two faces” to honor Lali worldwide.

Bizarre-looking Baby! A Severe Case of Anencephaly

On March 29, 2006, one odd-looking baby was born at the Gaurishnkar Hospital in Charikot, the headquarters of Dolakha district. He was measured at 2kg or 4.4 lbs. He was the son of a couple of Nir Bahadur Karki and Suntali Karki. This couple had given birth to two healthy children, and the mom didn’t experience any diseases during pregnancy. This newborn baby somewhat came as an unexpected fact that hit their life. The baby, however, died 30 minutes after being born. The nurse who attended his mother at the hospital said, “We wouldn’t have been able to save it, even if it had been brought here alive. This is an extremely abnormal case.” The news about this bizarre-looking baby drew huge number of onlookers gathered at the hospital to witness this unbelievable sight. The scene was in confusion until the police had to control the crowd.

This baby was bizarre because he was born with missing neck, the upper cranium and the opened brain as the neural tissue was not covered by bone or skin; his eyes were extremely large enough causing them to be popped out of his eye sockets. This was claimed to be a severe case of anencephaly, which is a developmental defect that causes the absence of the cerebral hemispheres of the brain. In this case, the embryo may have developed without neural tube or the upper part of its skull. In certain cases, the occurrence of anencephaly may have remained unexplainable, but scientists believe that some genetic factors may exist, particularly when the transcription factor TEAD2 may have at the low levels. Besides this, the lack of folic acid (vitamin B9) in the daily diet might have contributed to this consequence. Therefore, before the delivery, pregnant moms should have themselves furnished with appropriate amount of folic acid to avoid such tragedy. Meanwhile, they mustn’t wait until pregnancy to start taking folic acid, because the defect may have already occurred in the formation of the neural tube (which forms the brain and the spine). Pregnant moms are also warned not to take any medications that against epilepsy and diabetes, as this’ll cause them at a high risk of anencephaly.

Baby Born with 4 Arms and 4 Legs

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The existence of Lakshmi Tatma caught a worldwide media attention when she was born with 8 limbs. She was born joining at the pelvis, which was considered as an undeveloped twin. Further, she was also born to absorb the undeveloped fetus’s limbs, organs and kidneys as she was observed to have failed to fully develop even she was still in her mom’s womb. The local had regarded her as a reincarnation of the Indian Goddess of wealth Vishnu and thus she was named after this four-armed Hindu God. She was then undergone surgery to remove her parasitic twin when she was at 2 years old. A 24-hour surgery forming up by 30 surgeons and doctors had successfully removed her two extra legs and hands.

Little Mermaid Baby

One baby dubbed the “little mermaid” called Milagros Cerron (whose first name means “miracles” in Spanish), who weighed 17lbs (or 7.5kg) was born on April 27, 2004 with a rare condition of Sirenomelia or Mermaid Syndrome (in which her legs were fused) at a hospital in Peru. She was regarded as a “little mermaid” since her tiny feet splayed in a ‘V’ shape, which looks like a typical mermaid’s forked tail. Her stomach was seen to merge seamlessly into her legs below her waist joining all the way to her heels.

She was said to be one of a handful estimated cases of mermaid syndrome out of 60,000 to 10,000 births. She was born with her legs having separate bones, blood supplies and separate cartilage, good lungs and heart. Excluding the case of 16-year-old American Tiffany Yorks, doctors believe that babies who’re engaging with mermaid syndrome rarely survive. The medical team led by Dr. Luis Rubio however, had successfully reconstructed Milagros’s knees, ankles and hips. Her progress is simply amazing and God blesses her that she’s physically healthy.

Special Notes for Pregnant Moms

It’s always wiser for you moms to take some precautionary steps during pregnancy to avoid birth defects, abnormalities or any unexpected incidences that might have contributed to these deformed babies. (Note: If after doing these steps, you have given birth to the deformed baby, it might be the God’s will to teach you to be more benevolence and compassionate to the others. That means you’re undergoing the testing of the God. Specifically, some events may have just happened beyond the human control.) Moms, remember, you can make a DIFFERENCE! Here are some of my suggestions:

• You should avoid using any appliances that release radiation (such as computer, microwave, electric blanket and etc.) that may retard or harmful to a developing fetus. As water bed does give off the similar electric fields as those released in electric blanket, and therefore you should avoid using it for the same reason.
• You should take good care of your mental health by controlling your anger, rage, panic, stress and etc. Try let go all the negative thoughts but retain the optimistic thinking.
• You should avoid X-Ray exposure as minimal as possible to avoid any abnormalities that might have occurred.
• You should never get your eyes contact with weird, scary and wild animals, objects or shapes (either in the tangible or intangible condition) as this will affect the developing of fetus. Believe it or not, there has been recorded that a pregnant mom who used to have her eyes contacted with snakes gave birth to a half human and half snake baby. Well, this was not scientifically explained but it did happen. Meanwhile, try to avoid contacting with reptiles (such as turtles, snakes, iguanas, and etc.) for fear that the salmonella bacteria might be transferred via their feces which can undoubtedly affect your pregnancy. The appropriate way is to take a precautionary step before the unexpected tragedy disturbs your life.
• You should have yourself regularly monitored and examined by a registered medical professional. This is important to avoid any complications during pregnancy.
• You should take good care of your personal hygiene to avoid any pathogenic infections that might increase the risk of birth defects, abnormalities and miscarriage. Similarly, you should avoid drinking tap water for the similar concern.
• If you’re a family of diabetes, epilepsy, high blood pressure, STDs, Herpes, heart failure problem and etc. or you’ve any abnormal complications arising from the chronic disease or any pre-conditions and symptoms, please take an initiative to inform your doctor regarding this health issue so that they can prompt you for any appropriate medical diagnosis or treatment.
• You should furnish your body with appropriate amount of Folic Acid. The shortage of Folic Acid has raised the baby’s risk for spinal bifida. (Note: The Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) is at 0.4 mg of Folic Acid daily). It’s always better to discuss with your doctor with regards to the amount of Folic Acid you should take.
• To protect against preeclampsia during pregnancy, you’re advised to take appropriate amount of protein. (Note: The RDA of protein for you is at 100g). Baby needs protein for a healthy growth, particularly for a fully developed of their brain cells.
• You should avoid taking caffeine during your pregnancy. Many clinical reports have linked that the intake of caffeine might have contributed to high risk of stillbirth and miscarriage. Taking 200mg of caffeine for example, has showed to delay the fetal growth while it may have affected the baby’s breathing and heart rate. Similarly, pregnant moms are adviced not to drink green tea during their pregnancy.
• You’re recommended to avoid taking any herbal tea, unless you’re advised to do so by your doctor. Large amounts of red raspberry leaf, has been documented to cause contractions.
• You should avoid yourself from any bites or stings that might be dreadful to your developing fetus.
• Until now, there’s been no report so far to prove that pregnant moms are safe to take alcohol during pregnancy. Moms who drink alcohol during pregnancy may have high risk of stillbirth and miscarriage. Excessive drinking of alcohol may result in facial deformity, fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS), mental retardation, low birth weight, heart and breathing problems, and other negative effects and abnormalities to your baby. The moderate alcohol consumption can even disrupt the baby’s brain development.
• You should avoid consuming any dairy products that contain unpasteurized milk as this will cause food-borne illness.
• While you’re in pregnancy, stop using ACE inhibitors (can cause injury and death to the developing fetus; may increase the risk of congenital malformation; may cause fetal and neonatal injury [such as hypotension, anuria, neonatal skull hypoplasia and etc.]), ZESTORETIC, Lisinopril (can cause fetal and neonatal morbidity and death), Hydrochlorothiazide (may cause birth defects, birth abnormalities in the baby), and other over-the-counter (OTC) drugs (such as antibiotics, Aspirin) can lead to devastating effects to a fetus and birth defects. Additionally, you’re prohibited to take illegal drugs as they may impair or delay neurobehavioral development due to central nervous system damage, and they may even cause physical malformations (such as heart murmurs, cleft palate, eye defects, facial deformity, and other abnormalities on the other organ systems). You mustn’t use these drugs unless the doctor permits you to do so.
• You’re strictly not allowed to use abortion drugs. Misoprostol for example, is linked closely to birth defects. People from developing countries (such as Indonesia, Nigeria, South Africa, Philippines, Brazil, Argentina and etc.) and even in the United States use this drug to end their pregnancy as it’s the cheapest method of abortion. Nevertheless, they never know that the severe abnormalities and birth defects these drugs may have caused. 
• You’re discouraged to raise your body temperature by walking/working under the hot sun, doing outdoor activities, ignoring high fever , bathing in the hot tub/ taking hot bath or even using a sauna as this will lead to a potential danger to the developing fetus.
• You should avoid eating raw meat or sea food as this will increase the risk of birth defects/ birth abnormalities due to a chemical substance called toxoplasmosis that is present in the uncooked meat. Furthermore, the Time Magazine has warned not to eat fish (might have contaminated with concentrate methylmercury) during pregnancy as it may affect the developing of baby’s brain. Besides fish, shellfish, oysters, scallops, clams and other sea foods are also found to have polluted with chemical substances and heavy metals that might be harmful to a developing fetus. To avoid digesting harmful viruses and bacteria, and food-borne illness as well, you’re advised to reduce the intake of any animal-based foods.  
• You shouldn’t smoke or be around people who’re smoking. Smoking or second hand smoking has known to cause detrimental effects on the fetus. That is to say, the exposure to smoke can cause fetal and infant death, pre-term birth, spontaneous abortion, low-weight full-term baby and even other abnormalities.
• Don’t expose yourself to any chemical substances, including pesticides (such as fungicide, insecticides, herbicides and etc.), paint, household cleaning products, paint thinner and any chemical substances in any forms (appear in solid, liquid or gaseous), as it’ll impact on the developing fetus that might have led to deformation, birth defects or birth abnormalities
• You should avoid taking any Vitamin A supplementations as high-dose of Vitamin A can cause birth defects and other complicated consequences. Well, natural sources of Vitamin A are Ok, but it’s always advisable to discuss with your doctor regarding the amount of the vitamin A intake, and this also includes the discussion on the intake of other vitamins (such as Vitamin C, D, E, K and etc.).
• You should get plenty of rest and eat a healthy balanced diet.
• Make prayers as your daily routine. Admiring your God’s name as many times as posible every day, and seek for His forgiveness and merciness. Place Him deep in your heart to purify your mind from any impurities. Make this activity as your daily compulsory task.

Final Remark

I won’t allow any one of you laughing, cursing or humiliating at these deformed babies. They’re simply normal babies equipped with the human feelings, instincts and desires. Though their external features may be difference from ours, they’re living a very normal life. And for those moms, who had given birth to these deformed babies, please be patience and compassionate as this is the testing of the God. And if these babies died due to unexpected incidences, it’s the God’s will. Just pray and pay deep condolence to them! Indeed, these babies are brave “warriors” who dare to stand in front of many pairs of curious and suspicious eyes.

Also read:

10 Shockingly terrible eating related diseases (latest article)

Now, you can gain more health knowledge by visiting my health blog entitled HealthAssist. More upcoming updates and latest health information are right on the way!