NEWS: Docs Try to Treat Mermaid Syndrome Baby

A nine-month-old baby girl who was born with fused legs, a rare condition known as sirenomelia, or "mermaid syndrome," will undergo surgery to separate her legs. Because this condition is usually associated with internal organ abnormalities, children born with this condition almost never survive more than a few days. This child's internal organs are normal, except that she has only one kidney. The operation will take five hours and future operations will be needed to correct the orientation of her feet and to reconstruct her genitalia.




Considering the state of the surgical arts in this day and age and the condition of this child's internal organs, it sounds as though she has a fighting chance to overcome this condition. Cases like this are always emotionally laden because of the vulnerabliity of the children and the fears that all prospective parents have regarding the health of their expected children. We can all hope that this child will have a happy and rewarding future.


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Wow, I've never heard of that before. And even the feet are left seperate. What would a corpse of someone with that look like? Might be very convincing as a mermaid remains or something.

Wow you are a terrible terrible person!

Originally posted by CmptrN3rd5
Wow you are a terrible terrible person!

Why? I think it's highly plausible that is where the Mermaid myth stems from. Some one a long time ago finds a corpse of someone with the syndrome, mistakes it for something its not and calls it a MerMaid. I know oversimplification but it makes sense.

Choosing to not coment on the coments made thus far.
My thoughts and prayers go out to the child and her family.

Originally posted by CmptrN3rd5
Wow you are a terrible terrible person!

Yes, but whats this news article got to do with it?

Obviously its not the most 'sensitive' thing to have stated.

Are you going to cry about it or something?

This is quite an interesting story - I had never heard of such a disease myself....Very sad - Hopefully the surgery will go well....

Originally posted by CmptrN3rd5
Wow you are a terrible terrible person!

I don't see what's so damn terrible about Nygdan's comment.....I've seen far worse on this board

Originally posted by Nygdan
What would a corpse of someone with that look like?

I'm not sure it could explain the mermaid myth, as most of these children die shortly after birth....but if you're interested in what some of the corpses, and other babies with this deformity look like, (*warning - not for the quezy of stomach*) the check out this Google image search

I was only considering it speculatively, in so far as it providing a real world basis for the mermaid myth. IF the leg bones are fused together, I'd think that it could reasonably provide such a basis.

But no I'm not actually wanting to look at dead babies today.

From the Sun
The nine-day-old tot was born with sirenomelia, also called mermaid syndrome, in Lima, Peru.

It is caused by compression in the womb, which also affects the kidneys and bladder.

It is not yet possible to establish the child’s gender.

Originally posted by chaosrain

It is caused by compression in the womb, which also affects the kidneys and bladder.

I doubt it. There are epidemics of this kind of thing going on now, in animals too. Much more to this story than hits the mainstream press.

FYI - when kids inherit prion diseases from a parent, this is the kind of thing that happens.


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I think it is very fortunate that the parents want to correct this. The survival of thes children isnt great though. I hope this baby will pull through.

It may have pushed the myth that Mermaids can become human and their children are born half-and-half and all other sorts of junk.
Still not fun to go through.

Doctors in Peru say they have successfully separated the legs of a baby girl dubbed "little mermaid" because she was born with legs fused from her thighs to her ankles.

News Link

Looks like she,s going to pull through.

Defying odds bordering on miraculous Milagros may be able to walk on her own by the end of the year. Despite the fact she will need approximately ten more years of various therapies, the outlook is very good. She may be only the second person to survive the surgery to seperate her fused legs and misformed feet.

CNN Link

LIMA, Peru (AP) -- Smiling, blowing kisses and taking small assisted steps, Peru's "miracle baby" celebrated her second birthday Thursday, nearly a year after doctors successfully performed risky surgery to separate her fused legs.

Milagros Cerron, whose name means "miracles" in Spanish, was born with a rare congenital defect known as sirenomelia, or "mermaid syndrome."

The condition is almost always fatal, but Milagros has not only survived but also grown into an alert, vivacious little girl who can pull herself from a seated to a standing position

Her mother says she is doing great and developing just like other children. With an ever growing vocabulary of a developing two year old, her mother, of course, still remembers her first word... 'doctor'.