Happy Birthday, Kid Formed in Mom's Liver!

Jen Chaney — Mon, 19 May 2008 13:31:00 GMT

Let's all sing a festive round of happy birthday to Nhlahla Ncise, a South African girl who turns five tomorrow. That's a pretty impressive accomplishment, considering she was formed in her mother's liver.

Nhlahla's mother, Cwayita, thought something was wrong during the pregnancy because at six months along, she still wasn't showing. Doctors discovered that her womb was empty because, instead of setting up camp in her uterus, the fertilized egg had attached itself to Cwayita's liver and continued to grow into little Nhlahla.

Doctors performed a complicated procedure to remove the child, successfully giving birth to the baby, who has lived a healthy, normal life ever since. Extrauterine pregnancies like these usually don't have such happy endings. At the time of her birth, Nhlahla was only the fourth child to ever survive a pregnancy like this one.

So happy birthday, Nhlahla. A special twist on this story is the miracle baby's name. It means "luck" in Zulu.

Photo: BBC News

Strollerderby : Nhlahla Ncise

Happy Birthday, Kid Formed in Mom's Liver!