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Unsuspecting Catherine Joffre gave birth to a 9-pound, 4-ounce baby girl who, just minutes later, amazingly, gave birth to an 8.1-ounce baby boy, say doctors.
“This condition is called ‘fetus in fetus’ and it is extraordinarily rare,” Dr. Joel Lemoine told derekclontz.com in an exclusive telephone interview from his office in Paris.
“The baby girl is doing fine. But the baby that was growing inside her – a twin that was absorbed into her body while they were developing – is clinging to life.
“We invite anybody who is so inclined to pray for him,” adds the doctor. “Only a miracle will keep him alive.”
For the geneologists out there, the birth of a baby who gave birth to a baby made Mrs. Joffre, 27, a mother and a grandmother on the same day. The father, Samuel Joffre, 29, in turn became a father and a grandfather.
I think that is wrong. It states in the beginning of your article that the boy was the newborn girls twin that she “absorbed” in her body while growing is in fact her brother, not her son. So…the mother and father are not grandparents, parents to twins. [Editor: It's a complicated issue, indeed. Although doctors say the boy was, technically, a twin, you are correct in saying that one might just as correctly call the boy a son. Thank you for writing, Beckles, and ... enjoy your weekend. D!]