Doctors finally discovered what was living inside this woman for 50 years

Woman Discovered What Had Been In Her Body For 50 Years
© CNN
Woman Discovered What Had Been In Her Body For 50 Years
More under this ad

After experiencing a fall, this 92-year-old woman went to the hospital where doctors discovered something bizarre in one of her X-rays. Something had been in her abdomen for more than 50 years.

Estela Melendez had something called a ‘Lithopedion’. This phenomenon is so rare that there are only 300 recorded cases in the history of medicine.

Discover our latest podcast

Doctors first thought it was a tumour

When she was 92 years old, this woman from Chile discovered that she had a fifty-year-old foetus in her abdomen. After she had a fall, she went to the hospital where doctors informed her about the strange discovery. The elderly woman was shocked and flabbergasted.

More under this ad
More under this ad

50 years ago, she went to the doctor because she had a big bump in her stomach. But at the time, physicians didn’t realise that she had an ‘unborn’ child in her belly and initially suspected something else. She told BBC News.

The doctor said I had a tumour
More under this ad
More under this ad

Estela was just one of the women who simply didn’t realise she was pregnant. It was only when she went to the hospital after her fall that doctors took an X-ray and finally solved the problem.

Calcified foetuses, also known as Lithopedions, are extremely rare and there are only 300 recorded cases in the history of medicine. The only thing that might be rarer is cases of mothers not giving birth to their first child until they are over the age of 70.

More under this ad
More under this ad