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By Mara Levy Published: 2007-12-10 19:54
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Extra Body PartsExtra Body Parts

People Born with Extra Body Parts - Celebs Included!

By Erin Donnelly
Published: Friday, September 14, 2007 - 17:25

The Lord giveth...and sometimes he really giveth. Just ask Chandler "Third Nipple" Bing. Being born with an extra breast or penis might sound good on paper (or at least to your lover), but in reality it's kind of a bummer-it's not like Victoria's Secret sells three-cup bras. And what of the unfortunate souls born with extra digits, organs, limbs, and even heads? When it comes to the human body, is less more? Or are the rest of us missing out on multitasking opportunities? Meet the most bizarre cases of supernumerary body parts on record...

Polymastia/Accessory breastsPolymastia/Accessory breasts


Polymastia

Is polymastia just a fancy word for "every guy's dream"? Though films like "Total Recall" and "Return of the Jedi" (see: dude flicks) portray sci-fi babes with multiple breasts, the condition isn't actually all that sexy. Accessory breasts can appear on the chest along the milk line, most often under the normal breast, but have also surfaced on the back, buttocks, neck, and even the underside of the foot.
IngentaConnect.com reports that "accessory breasts occur in 0·4-6 percent of women. They may be asymptomatic or cause pain, restriction of arm movement, cosmetic problems or anxiety."

Fun fact: The goddess Artemis, who symbolized fertility and femininity, had multiple breasts. It is also believed that Anne Boleyn - Henry VIII's ill-fated wife - had a third breast, Medscape.com reports. Having a back-up breast, however, must have paled in comparison to having no head.

Polythelia/Third NippleMark Wahlberg and Zac Efron (bottom) Polythelia/Third NippleMark Wahlberg and Zac Efron (bottom)



The Third Nipple

Chandler Bing's "nubbin" will forever be known as the poster child for third (supernumerary) nipples, also known as polythelia. The condition occurs in about 2% of women, but is less common in men, Wikipedia notes. Among those afflicted? Singer Lily Allen, who bared her tiny "accessory nipple" on an episode of Britain's "The Friday Night Project" earlier this year; teenybopper heartthrob Zac Efron; country singer Carrie Underwood, who had hers removed ("It looked just like a mole," she has said); and actor Mark Wahlberg, who reportedly had his airbrushed out of those famous Calvin Klein underwear ads. No word on whether or not these do in fact "open the delivery entrance to the magical world of Narnia."

MostBeautifulMan.com reports that Wahlberg told Rolling Stone that, "I've come to embrace it. That thing's my prized possession."

Hyperdontia/Extra TeethCanine (top), Human (bottom) Hyperdontia/Extra TeethCanine (top), Human (bottom)



Hyperdontia

The nutsos on "Jerry Springer" may have a lot of issues, but it's safe to say that hyperdontia - or the condition of having supernumerary teeth - isn't one of them.

With hyperdontia, extra teeth - most often "peg-like" mesiodens that form between the maxillary central incisors, Wikipedia notes - show up on dental X-rays or start growing against the original teeth. That can lead to having four wisdom teeth, massive tooth removals, and having three sets of teeth (i.e., the adult teeth fall out and are replaced by a new set), as the testimonials at Wiki.answers.com reveal.

A sample post:
"My great-grandmother had three sets. When she was 60+ years old, her teeth started falling out. They decided the best thing to do was pull the rest and give her dentures. Thing is, one or two grew back in. The dentist continued pulling teeth, and more kept coming. At the end of the day (or year as it may be), he ended up pulling an entire third set."

Cervical RibCervical Rib



Cervical Rib

Got a pain in the neck - literally? It could be a cervical rib, an additional rib (sometimes two) that occurs in less than 1% of the population. According to Dr. Richard J. Sanders, author of "Thoracic Outlet Syndrome," individuals with cervical ribs - which are located in the neck area above the first "real" rib - are 10 times more likely to develop Thoracic Outlet Syndrome, a condition marked by pain, numbness, tingling, and weakness in the arm.

We blame Adam.

DiphalliaDiphallia



Diphallia

Having two penises might sound like a dream come true to most men, but those fellas who actually have diphallia, aka penile duplication, life isn't exactly a parade of threesomes.

Last year The Sydney Morning Herald reported that a 24-year-old Indian man with diphallia - an extremely rare condition affecting just one out of every 5.5 million men - was seeking surgery to remove one penis so he could marry and lead a normal sex life. What made the man's story especially unique - and medically risky - is that both penises (peni?) were fully functioning. In most cases, the secondary penis is "rudimentary" and doctors were concerned about cutting off the man's blood flow.

According to Wikipedia, diphallia - caused by the failure of tissue to properly form in an embryo - often comes with sterility, other deformities like renal or anorectal duplication, and conditions like spina bifida. In some cases urine can be passed by each penis, and it is more common for the penises to sit side by side.

Polycephaly Polycephaly



Polycephaly

Two heads are better than one? Try telling that to someone suffering from polycephaly, a condition that results in two heads when the zygote fails to fully separate. Polycephaly is a more common occurrence with animals, but there are human examples:

Rebecca Martinez: This baby was born in the Dominican Republic with an extra head, but passed away following surgery.

Manar Maged: Egypt's Manar Maged was born with a second head and torso attached to her head. The additional head had the capacity to smile and blink, but was not fully functioning. Maged died at age two from a brain infection.

Abigail & Britney Hensel: The 17-year-old dicephalic conjoined twins have two heads, four lungs, and two arms. Each is able to control the movement on her own side.

PolydactylyPolydactyly



Polydactyly

Occurring once in approximately every 500 births, polydactyly is the condition in which a person has extra fingers or toes. Devandra Harne of India holds the record for having the most digits, 25 in total. Having six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot earned Phillies pitcher Antonio Alfonseca the nickname "Pulpo" ("Octopus"), but the deformity hasn't hurt his game any. The Dallas Morning News reports that when the Yankees offered to pay for surgery, he ran away.

"I see them staring sometimes," Alfonseca said. "It's OK. I don't care. It's no big deal to me. Some people see it as a bad thing. I don't."

Fun fact: Once again, Anne Boleyn is cited on Wikipedia as allegedly having polydactyly, in addition to a purported extra breast (no wonder King Henry wanted a divorce).

PolymeliaPolymelia



Polymelia

One recent example of polymelia - the condition of having an extra arm or leg - is Jie-jie, the Chinese baby who last year had surgery to remove a third arm. The extra arm appeared on his left side just under his normal arm, China Daily reports.

Another human case of polymelia, which most often occurs in animals, is Betty Lou Williams, who appeared in Ripley's Odditorium at the 1934 World's Fair. According to MissionCreep.com, Williams was billed as "The Girl with Four Legs and Three Arms' because of the parasitic twin fused to her body. Ripley reported paid her parents $250 a week to exhibit her, eventually providing Williams enough money to send all 12 of her siblings to college. Williams died in 1955 at the age of 23.

SyndactylySyndactyly

Syndactyly

If Ashton Kutcher and Dan Aykroyd ever get sick of Hollywood, they could always seek a second career as a sideshow act. Both have webbed feet, an aspect of syndactyly, in which soft tissue fuses the fingers or toes. According to Wikipedia, Soviet ruler Joseph Stalin and Marge Simpson are said to have webbed feet (fictional and otherwise).

According to ContactMusic.com, Kutcher is very open about his condition, saying, ""I have two toes that are connected, webbed. This made like headline news, people! ... It's actually a good thing I'd showed it because I heard this one little kid, he actually had webbed feet and he thought he was abnormal. And then he heard that I did and it confirmed that he's abnormal. I thought everyone's toes were like that. They can cut it when you're born."

Says Aykroyd in Mr. Mike's Mondo Video: "I'm proud to say that I'm an actual genetic mutant."

PolyorchidismPolyorchidism



Polyorchidism

It takes a lot of balls to have polyorchidism - literally. This condition is marked by the presence of three or more testicles. According to Medscape.com, fewer than 100 cases of this rare congenital condition have been documented. Polyorchidism was also considered in ancient times to signify fertility and virility, though today the condition is linked to an increased risk of testicular cancer.

HermaphroditismHermaphroditism



Hermaphroditism

Hermaphrodites are people (or animals, plants, and invertebrates) that have both male and female reproductive organs. Some choose - or have their parents choose - one gender over the other and the necessary surgery is undertaken. But some, like hermaphrodite half-siblings Ilizane and Xenia Broks, live their lives as they were born, somewhere in between.

As TheAge.com.au reports, both Ilizane and Xenia were born with vaginas, no uterus, and testes rather than ovaries. Each has XY male chromosomes, though from outward appearances they look female.

"I think of myself as more female than male, but in reality I am half-male, half-female," says Ilizane. "When I think of myself, how I am, I feel female, and I feel female characteristics are those I display most. But there are times when I see the male side of myself - during karate, for example."

Uterine Didelphys Hannah Kersey  Uterine Didelphys Hannah Kersey 

Uterine Didelphys

England's Hannah Kersey gave birth to three baby girls last year, but they aren't triplets. Come again? According to Babble.com, Kersey has uterine didelphys, a condition in which a woman has two uteri or vaginal canals. Kersey had identical twins in one uterus, and a single baby in the other after eggs in each uterus were fertilized at the same time. The odds of that happening are about 25 million to one.

But enough about precious miracle babies. Last year Esquire featured the story of an unnamed 41-year-old woman born with two vaginas, two cervixes, and two uteruses. This anomaly wasn't discovered until the woman was 15. "I was having all sorts of pain--woman stuff--but I'd get it checked out, and they wouldn't find anything wrong," she says. "I guess the eighth doctor was more thorough. I remember I was lying there, and I heard her say, "Oops."

The woman also said she lost her virginity twice - to the same guy - and has to wear two tampons. Bonus: She has two G-spots and can have two orgasms at the same time.

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