Baby boy with 6 legs born in Pakistan

The baby boy with six legs was born Saturday at the Sakkur's Civil Hospital in Pakistan. The hospital officials were taking extra precautions to avoid any infections that the child may develop over time. However, they said the baby was in a good and stable condition.

The first newborn child of Mr. and Mrs. Sheikh is apparently suffering from a birth defect known as Polymelia, in which the affected individual is born with extra limbs that are usually small or deformed. Another cause can be, the embryo, which starts as twins, becomes fused in the mother's womb, and one of the twins will survive while the other twins limbs end up getting attached to the living twin which is known as Ischiopagus.

Because of financial problems, the couple decided to take the child home.

The mother, who's identity was yet to be revealed said she was really shocked over the baby's abnormality. The father, Imran Sheikh was advised to take the child to a hospital in Karachi for a more extensive treatment. He works as an X-ray technician on a sparse income of Rs. 6000 (about $67) per month and is seeking for financial assistance from the government and philanthropists for his child treatment because the operation is expected to be too expensive.

Meanwhile, Muhammad Qaisar, who works as doctor at Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences in Islamabad believes that the operation to remove the child's extra limbs is possible and may not cause much trouble.-EARLY — ARA