UNUSUAL BIRTHS


Nature rarely errs, but when it does the results are often most extraordinary.
by E. H. Herrick, Ph.D.
IF you are acquainted with identical twins, you have probably never thought of them as the result of a birth abnormality. Actually they are, though in this case they can consider themselves lucky.
Many of these abnormalities are not so fortunate, although we rarely hear of them. Most end up merely as another case in the records of clinics and hospitals unless they are quite extraordinary.
Identical twins develop from a single fertilized egg and grow as any other one for a time, but not for long. For some unknown reason, the early embryonic cells separate into two masses and a complete child develops from each.