81-year-old Brazilian citizen Daniela Almeida Vera, belonging to one of the indigenous tribes, carried the body of an unborn fetus in her womb for over 50 years, which turned into a petrified mass.
In medicine, such a phenomenon is called “lithopedion,” which literally means “stone baby,” and it occurs very rarely. This happens when the fetus dies but is not absorbed by the mother’s body due to its large size, and miscarriage does not occur either.
To protect the mother’s body, her immune system automatically begins to cover the “foreign body” with layers of calcium (calcify it) to prevent the spread of infection in case of decomposition of the fetus.
In developed countries, women with a deceased fetus trapped inside them undergo surgery to remove it, but in remote places like indigenous settlements in the Brazilian jungle, there is a lack of both hospitals and doctors. Moreover, the population there often prefers to seek treatment from shamans.
So, 81-year-old Daniela Almeida Vera carried her child in the form of a petrified fetus since 1968. That was when she was last pregnant, but childbirth never occurred. Then, apparently, she simply forgot about it.
However, in her old age, she began to suffer from abdominal pains, and she decided to go to the hospital when the pain became unbearable. She herself thought she had a urinary tract infection, and at first, the doctor suspected she had cancer, but when the grandmother was sent for detailed 3D scanning, the remains of the fetus were suddenly found in her abdomen.
She was immediately sent for surgery to remove the lithopedion, and the operation took place on March 14, 2024, apparently successfully. Daniela was placed in the intensive care unit after the operation, where she suddenly died the next day for unspecified reasons.
“She was elderly, and we are from an indigenous people. She didn’t like going to the doctor, and she was afraid of the equipment used for tests,” says her daughter Rozeli.
“She didn’t want to see doctors because she was afraid she had a tumor. She just took medicine to relieve the pain,” adds her son Vanderlei.
“We are in a state of shock, very sad. She was our mother and the only one who protected our people, and now she’s gone, and we feel lost.”
