Child Born with Second Penis in the Middle of His Back

Fetus in Fetu (FIF) is a rare and very mysterious medical condition that is said to have occurred (or at least is recorded to have occurred) less than ninety times throughout medical history. For the little boy born in Tianjin’s Children Hospital in China, the second penis in the middle of his tiny back is a medical first and even weirder than some other instances of this highly unusual phenomenon.

The baby presented no problems when it came into the world with the help of midwives on May 27, 2008, at the Hejian Maternity Center, which is part of Tianjin Children’s Hospital.

What seemed like a routine birth, however, soon turned into a story from Ripley’s Believe it or Not, as midwives and medical staff could not have been more surprised to see a little boy endowed with a second penis in the middle of his back.

Born to farmer dad, Li Jun, 30, and his wife, who live in Central China’s Henan Province, the extra penis was safely removed.

There are complicated theories about this condition that relate to the abnormal formation of twins in utero (parasitic twin theory), but this manifestation is just too weird for any of the medical books.

For now, doctors are content to say that after three hours of surgery, the extra penis is gone and the little boy is doing fine.