Doctors in India have successfully removed two underdeveloped fetuses from the abdomen of a one-month-old baby, reports The Times of India.

Fetus in fetu is an extremely rare pathology. About 300 such cases have been recorded worldwide.

And the aforesaid situation was especially rare because there were two fetuses inside the baby at birth. This happens in about 10% of recorded cases. The anomaly is formed in the early stages of pregnancy, when the embryo “incorporates” into the body of the second one and develops there as a “parasitic twin.” Such a fetus is not viable and cannot live independently.

The mother was initially expecting triplets, but the two embryos did not develop separately, and ended up in the body of the third girl. The child was taken to the Fortis Memorial Research Institute hospital in Gurgaon—and with a swollen abdomen. Her parents said she was irritable and refused to eat.

The examination revealed two tumor-like growths in her abdomen. Doctors determined that they were underdeveloped embryos. The girl was dehydrated and malnourished. Doctors stabilized her condition and then performed surgery to remove the two fetuses. The surgery took about two hours.

According to doctors, this is a rare and complex case, both in terms of diagnosis and surgical recovery. The main task was to remove the “parasitic twins” without damaging the child’s organs, including the intestines, pancreas, stomach, liver, kidneys, and major blood vessels.

The baby has already been discharged from the hospital, and she is recovering well.