The twin within: (2) A teratoma

A teratoma is a mass of cells growing in the body - a  benign tumour.  That is, except when it develops in the testis or ovary, when it can become malignant, most commonly in the testis. Cancer specialists know a lot about malignant teratomas.

The medical dictionaries tell us that a teratoma is:

teratoma (ter´tō´m),

n a tumor composed of cells capable of differentiating into any of the three primary germ layers. Teratomas in the ovary are usually benign dermoidal cysts; those in the testis are generally malignant.

Is a teratoma a twin within? Here is what one doctor says:

When a teratoma is surgically removed,  it shows signs of  some development into human form, but not as clearly differentiated as in the fetus in fetu, which we looked at yesterday.

This is the kind of thing you see when you cut a teratoma out of the body and open it up: teeth, hair and maybe a little bone.

The survivors of such surgery do speak about feeling "different" or "lost" after surgery. Even as children the teratoma can be known about -  one womb twin survivor in the USA once told me:

I had an ovarian dermoid cyst (teratoma) removed at age seventeen.  When I was a little girl I used to tell my mother I “had a little man inside of me”.

 There is evidently a lot more to learn about teratomas and the twin within.   If you want to learn more, there is a chapter about the twin within in my new book. 

 

A parasitic twin, now vanished.

This little boy in India carried his twin as a parasitic set of limbs for many years until it was removed.


THE PARASITIC TWIN

Eight-year-old Indian boy Deepak Kumar Paswaan was born with body parts of his twin attached to the chest. The phenomenon, also known as "conjoined twin syndrome" or "vanishing twin syndrome" occurs when twin fetuses don't completely separate in utero. One ceases to develop and becomes absorbed into the healthy fetus. The undeveloped twin is called parasitic because it is dependent on the body functions of the healthy twin to live.

Deepak was called "octopus boy" by some of the locals and was even accused of being the devil in a human body. Fortunately, thanks to the help of some volunteers, enough money was raised to have the parasitic twin removed.


I wonder if he feels a sense of loss now?

I hear from womb twin survivors who have surgery to remove their twin in the form of a dermoid cyst, teratoma,  foetus in foetu or parasitic body parts, and who feel that sense of mourning and loss after surgery.

Read about how it felt for Deepak (known as octopus boy) to be eight years old with a parastitic twin that twitched in spasms which he could not control.

Read about how the surgery to remove his twin has changed his life.

Something missing

A little girl has her twin growing inside her ( this is known as fetus in fetu)
Story here
She will have surgery, the fetus will be removed and she will then become a womb twin survivor. No one will recognise that this loss will have a psychological effect on her. The effect may not be significant and ashe may have a happy life. Probably she will never say a word to anyone but there will always be a strange sense of something missing. Sher may work it out for herself but people will laugh at her when she says she is "missing" a growth that once existed inside her.

No one will suggest that the body parts of her lost twin are disposed of with respect, as now happens after miscarriage. The fetus will probably be preserved in formalin and languish in a lab for decades.

I recently received an email about a woman who had ovarian cysts and a teratoma (which is like a fetus in fetu but less organised and developed into human form) and she said:

I never knew I was one of a twin until about 10 years ago when I had a scan showing ovarian cysts which were later proved to be dermoid and teratoma. I have researched the symptoms of womb twin survivors and I am amazed and relieved to know that there is an explanation for how I feel.....

This little girl may benefit one day from the book I am writing, for that will explain it all. So, back to work at my keyboard and let's get it done soon.....