I was pregnant with triplets but only delivered one baby after my son 'ate his siblings' in the womb
A mother delivered just one baby despite being pregnant with triplets after he 'casually ate his siblings' in the womb, she has revealed.
TikTok user @vfbabygirl28 - believed to be from New Zealand - shared ultrasound scans at different points during her pregnancy on the social media platform in a clip that has been viewed over 2.5 million times at the time of writing.
A picture of the first scan showed two embryos as the mother-of-two captioned it: 'Goes into the first scan and find out I'm having twins...'
As her pregnancy progressed, a second scan revealed she was actually having triplets.
By the time she went in for her next ultrasound to 'check the triplets', only one embryo was visible in the scans as she quipped 'this guy just casually ate his siblings'.
She finished her TikTok with a picture of her newborn baby, wearing a mint green jumper and beanie, sleeping peacefully along with the caption: 'Holyf***ingairball.'
The video received over 16,000 comments, as several fellow TikTok users questioned whether her baby is a 'Chimera'.
'I've heard that twins or triplets that absorb each other have a higher chance of being Chimeras,' one person wrote.
By the time she went in for her next ultrasound to 'check the triplets', only one embryo was visible in the scans as she quipped 'this guy just casually ate his siblings'
A Chimera is a person who has cells from two or more sources, or fertilised eggs, resulting in different genetic makeup.
According to WebMD, chimerism in humans occurs when a mother is pregnant with twins or triplets and one of the embryo dies or stops developing early on. If this happens, the surviving embryo sometimes absorbs its twin's cells.
Several TikTok user shared this explanation for the woman's unusual experience, as one person noted: 'Sometimes when you have more than one baby, one fetus kinda absorbs the other one.'
Another said: 'For people who are confused, let me explain. There are two possible reasons for this.
'In early pregnancy, multiple embryos can start developing (like twins or triplets), but then one or more stop growing and just get absorbed by the mother's body or the remaining fetus,' they shared. 'This is more common.'
The second reason this might have happened, they continued, is if they're a 'Human Chimera'.
They wrote: 'If two embryos fuse very early in development, they combine into one person with two sets of DNA and they become a chimera.'
Some of the characteristics include 'patches of skin with different DNA' or two different blood types.
Taking to the comments section, one person revealed they are a Chimera, noting: 'Half my stomach is a completely different shade' to the rest of their body.
Another also shared: 'Hey! I'm a chimera because I absorbed my twin! I have two DNAs and distinct skin markings down the center of my body.'
Springing to the baby's defence, another said: 'Just to clarify for non-medical folks in the comments.
'This adorable baby didn't actually EAT his siblings. Likely they didn't continue to develop (early miscarriage) and both baby and mum absorbed the cells/tissue to avoid miscarry [sic] of a perfectly healthy pregnancy,' they added.
While some people made light of the revelation, others paid their respects to the unborn babies and praised the mother for her 'courage' while navigating the loss.
One said: 'Everybody making jokes, but I can't imagine going from 1) not pregnant to pregnant, 2) having 1 baby to 2, 3) 2 to 3 babies, 4) 1 baby.
'That's hard!! For mind and body! You are strong girl!'
Another asked the mother how she coped with losing two of the three fetuses, adding: 'Do you grieve for them like how mothers would grieve for miscarried children?'
The woman, who also has a 13-year-old son, appeared to take the situation in her stride as she told one commenter her baby also 'ate' his siblings' personalities.
She also shared insight into how she dealt with the situation, when another mom revealed she'd been through a similar experience.
'Omg mine too,' she began. 'There were two on my first scan & at my second, they told me baby A basically ate baby B.
'I was so confused, but just learnt to accept it over time.'
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