
British newspaper The Sun reports Gavin Hyatt went to his GP Joe Santos when a growth protruding from his belly began to force its way out.
"Four hospital doctors had previously examined me and were all puzzled by the lump," Hyatt told the paper. "Some thought it was a cyst, others an ingrown hair. Then one said it could be my undeveloped identical twin that I absorbed at a very early stage."
Gavin’s identical brother died in the womb early in their mum’s pregnancy. The 4cm foetus then became embedded in Gavin’s tissue and stayed in his stomach for the next 30 years.
Medics said the growth was a parasitic twin, scientifically described as an epigastric parasite, a rare condition that has spawned many strange stories down the years. The incomplete twin usually consists of a diminutive body attached at the epigastrum (lower abdomen). Some of these twins have a rudimentary head imbedded in the autosite's (host twin's) abdominal cavity, and the growth of this structure can cause complications with organ growth. All of these twins are acephalic-acardiac, meaning they are both without a brain and without a heart.
"I feel absolutely fine now but it has not sunk in yet that I could have had a twin brother," Hyatt told The Sun. "I have him in a jar at home and I call him little Gav. I haven't told many people. I feel like a bit of a freak."
"It was like something from Alien," said Doctor Santos, referring to the chest-bursting xenomorph from the 1979 SF film. "I didn't believe Gavin when he said something was coming out of his belly button until I saw him."
Gavin's case is far from extreme. In one case, Rudy Santos from the Philippines was born with three legs and four arms and dubbed the octopus man, becoming part of a traveling circus.
Web Links
• The Sun: Man, 30, gives 'birth' to his twin
• Famous Parasitic Twin cases: www.phreeque.com/parasitic_twins.html
• Rudy Santos the Octopus Man - Video link. Warning: Not for the faint-hearted
• Human Marvels: dedicated to vindicating those people who were once labeled as freaks: www.thehumanmarvels.com