A baby born with an extra pair of arms and legs growing out of its torso has been hailed as a "miracle of nature" by people who believe the child to be the reincarnation of the Hindu goddess Lakshmi. The goddess is depicted as having multiple limbs and is the goddess of wealth, fortune, power, beauty, fertility, and prosperity.
Per reports, the baby was born on July 2 at the Shahabad Community Health Center in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India: "Photos and videos show the baby with what appears to be an extra pair of arms and legs attached to its stomach, in what is likely to be a case of polymelia, a birth defect that results in more than the usual number of limbs."
There are various forms of this rare birth defect such as Cephalomelia, Pyromelia, Thoracomelia, and Notomelia where the limbs grow from the head, pelvis, thorax, and backbone. While some external factors such as the use of the drug thalidomide have been attributed to causing polymelia, studies demonstrate that chances of birth defects among Indian fetuses were particularly higher due to these reasons: "Indian fetuses were at increased risk of birth defects due to a variety of factors including higher maternal age, lack of antenatal care (22.8 percent of Indian pregnancies did not receive any antenatal care), maternal nutritional status and high numbers of consanguineous marriages in the population."
Once the news of the birth got out, people arrived en masse to see the 'miracle baby.' In a similar incident, another baby was born with 4 arms and legs at the beginning of this year in India but in this particular case, some of the child's organs were exposed outside of its body. The tot was also idolized by people who believed the child to be the reincarnation of god.
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