Pregnant mother aborts mermaid child after finding out foetus was growing a tail instead of legs

A young mother has decided to terminate her pregnancy after finding out she was carrying a mermaid-like foetus in her womb. The 23-year-old mum, was six months pregnant when she was examined by doctors in Yichang City, in Central China's Hubei Province. Wu's scans showed that her unborn child did not have two legs, but instead had a 'tail' like growth.


The foetus also did not have a bladder and had a stunted liver, reports said. Doctors at the hospital told Wu that the foetus was suffering from a condition known as sirenomelia, or 'Mermaid Syndrome', a rare congenital deformity in which the legs are fused together, giving them the appearance of a mermaid's tail.

Despite carrying the foetus for half a year, Wu decided to terminate her pregnancy after specialists estimated that the baby would only be able to survive for a few hours after birth.

The causes of Mermaid Syndrome are still a medical mystery, and it is said to occur only once in every 100,000 pregnancies.