Baby Born With 12 Fingers and Toes

By JTPednaud in Health on Aug 30, 2007 at 10:29 am

Seven pound Jeshuah Fuller was born yesterday with six fingers on each hand and six toes on both feet. While one in 2,000 babies is born with an extra finger or toe, it’s much rarer to have extra digits on each appendage. The trait is much more common among African-Americans.

While Jeshuah is healthy, he will have his extra fingers and toes surgically removed in mid-September. His father, who was born with 6 fingers on his left hand, still has a tiny stump on his left pinkie.

The condition is known as polydactyly and usually an inherited trait.

Famously the family of Foldi, part of the Hyabites tribe living in Arabia, all have 24 digits.

Neat stuff from the NeatoShop:

Kevin O'Hare
Aug 30th, 2007 at 10:52 am
Er, that should be “polydactyly” (with a “c” in there).
JTPednaud
Aug 30th, 2007 at 11:00 am
Indeed…
fixed.
Dave
Aug 30th, 2007 at 11:48 am
“Hello. My name is Innigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.”
Miss Cellania
Aug 30th, 2007 at 12:19 pm
I’d have to do a lot of thinking before I would amputate a child’s fingers and toes, unless there was some medical reason.
maps
Aug 30th, 2007 at 1:53 pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8krqp8NvIM
SenorMysterioso
Aug 30th, 2007 at 4:50 pm
if the extra digits are functional I see no reason to amputate them. I could use an extra finger on each hand
Michael Phipps
Aug 30th, 2007 at 6:44 pm
I agree – if the extra digits are functional, I see no reason to amputate them either!

Has anyone considered that this could be the next step in evolution?
Alex
Aug 30th, 2007 at 8:58 pm
Kid’ll count in base 12.
meme
Aug 30th, 2007 at 9:08 pm
I also agree. Why make him suffer to conform? Poor sweet baby.
Jamie
Aug 31st, 2007 at 3:50 am
Meh. Doctors and parents do this all the time with intersex children. I agree, I want to know the medical basis for removing them. I can see ‘They will get infected and gangenous and kill the child’, but I don’t buy into ‘OMG he’ll be a fr34k!!1!’
pol x
Aug 31st, 2007 at 5:15 am
Ahem, I think you’ll find that the trait is more common among people of African descent.

Genetics is not interested in the latest name for Black citizens of the USA.

See Africans aren’t African Americans, they are….yeah you got it…Africans.

Not absolutely everything in the world revolves around the USA you know.
JTPednaud
Aug 31st, 2007 at 8:08 am
The original article referenced deals with a baby born in Brooklyn and supplies US stats. The links in the above article give a more global view.

Also, just for the record, I am not an American.
Hugo
Sep 4th, 2007 at 11:48 am
Thanks for the article and commentary. I found this site, as I am searching… my son was born today here in Japan, with 6 toes on one of his feet. I agree the comments here, unless there is a medical reason to remove his extra toe, his mother and I think he’s special to have it. As for heredity, neither his mother or I have extra digits, nor do we know anyone in our family that does at this point. Thank you again for the viewpoints/comments.
Pete
Nov 1st, 2007 at 7:50 am
If the extras are present and fully functiosnal on all four limbs, why bother remsving them? They may be useful. Surely it should be the child’s decision when he is old enough to decide.
noemy
Oct 13th, 2008 at 12:57 pm
i dont now y ppl amputate their babies fingers they were born lyk dat oh well god wanted them to be born lyk dat i will agree if the finger is infected so jst chop it of.
Born with 12 toes
Oct 22nd, 2008 at 9:04 am
I was born with 12 toes. I went most of my life hating my feet, until recently. I still don’t necessarily like them, which is ashame, because my feet don’t look all that bad. The parents are right to amputate them righat away. I didn’t get my extra toes amputated until the age of 7, and it turned out to be the worst decision, because it stunted the growth of my baby toes! Also, the scarring left from waiting until I was older was much, much more noticeable, than had my parents just done it when I was a baby. I wish my parents had consider how being born with an extra toe on each foot would effect me and done the surgery when I was a baby instead. The pain and suffering from four foot surgeries total, as opposed to one simple foot surgery as a baby could have been avoided.
hobbes3
Jun 29th, 2010 at 12:46 pm
I guess with feet it would be more difficult to live since humans wear shoes or some sort of covering on their soles almost all the time when they are outside. But 12 working fingers sound like a great idea!

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