Baby Born Without All Four Limbs Baffles Doctors

• The baby girl has Tetra-Amelia, an autosomal recessive congenital disorder that leaves one without all the limbs of the body.
• She is perfectly healthy despite the absence of limbs.
• Australian Christian evangelist and motivational speaker Nick Vujicic has tetra-amelia syndrome, born with only two small deformed feet.

In India, a rare genetic disorder has been identified as the reason why a baby has been born without arms and legs. The infant girl, which was born in central India’s Madhya Pradesh, has Tetra-Amelia, an autosomal recessive congenital disorder that leaves one without all the limbs of the body.

A video of the baby girl recently made rounds on social media and it shows a woman carrying the infant, wrapped in cloth. She was clearly without arms and feet.

The baby’s mother is a 28-year-old woman.

Despite the absence of limbs, the baby is perfectly healthy, according to Dr. Suresh Aggarwal, a pediatrician at Rajiv Gandhi Smriti Hospital in Sironj.

Tetra-Amelia syndrome is a very rare genetic disorder and is caused by mutations in the WNT3 gene. The syndrome affects one in 100,000 newborns, said Dr Prabhakar Tiwari, Bhopal CMHO and pediatrician. He admitted that this is the first case of Tetra-Amelia syndrome that he has encountered in his career.

In a 2011 study from the Research Center on Congenital Anomalies (CIAC) of the Instituto de Salud Carlos III in Spain conducted by Dr Eva Bermejo-Sanchez, we learn that the disorder happens in roughly one out of every 71,000 pregnancies.

In many cases, the lungs of the affected are underdeveloped, which makes breathing difficult or even impossible. For this baby girl, doctors suggested that she undergo further assessments to see if her internal organs have developed normally.

A more popular example of tetra-amelia syndrome is the case of Australian Christian evangelist and motivational speaker Nick Vujicic.

Born in 1982, Nick only had two small deformed feet.

He was bullied in school and was naturally fearful for his future. He even attempted suicide, but he still persevered and was able to find his purpose in life.

This made him one of the most respected inspirational speakers in the world. Nick, who is now married and with four children and is the founder of Life Without Limbs, an international non-profit organization and ministry.