Deborah - posted on 01/28/2009 ( 17 moms have responded )
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my son Harri was born on 15/8/08, after he was born we discovered an extra finger on each hand,
although very scary, apparently it is the most common birth defect worldwide with 1 in 200 babies born with extra digits.
Harri is my 5th son, and it never ever occured to me to count fingers or toes at the births of any of my babies, i just took for granted that they would have 5 of each.
i would love to talk with others who have experienced this, as it is extremely fascinating.
his "spares" will be removed under G/A before his 1st birthday.
Harri is in the 10% of babies who have nerves and blood supply to his spares, the other 90% of babies are treated at birth, simply by tying surgical string around the finger until it drops off, sounds barbaric to me!
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Pairoj - posted on 11/05/2013
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My son PW also had 12 fingers. They come out on the thumb side of each hand. First, the extra fingers look nice and perfect so i thought he could be some hand skill champion like musical instruments or video games. After 6,7 months they looked deformed small and bended. At 12 months, after consulting with doctors, we decide to remove them by the reason that these fingers will pull the blood food and resources and make the main thumbs smaller and weaker. Operation come very good, thank God. He need some special exercises for extend tendons to help him grip things normally. Be positive, Cheers.
Deborah - posted on 10/31/2012
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hi deborah. i find it odd that not only do we have the same name but my daughter was also born in august 2008. she ws born with the same digits as your son. i have four children, my eldest was born with 10 digits, my second eldest was born with 12, my second youngest was born with 12 and my youngest was born with 10. my children`s 'defect' was due to my husband having been born with 12 fingers also. he also has an older daughter who was only born with ten. he is one of 6 and is the only one born with this 'defect'. it seems to be hereditary by random chance in our family. i was lucky because i held out for sophie`s operation so her and jessica could have their operation together. i was actually really sorry to see them go. sophie has a small scar but can not quite close her little finger against the others unless she trie, jessica seems to have no lasting effect. all 3 including my husband) had the fingers slightly higher up the littl finger than the other. my only regret was that i didnt have casts made but we have plenty of pics. sophie had hers so long she used them as a comforter because it would fold into her palm x Theirs grew alongside the others as did the nail which i would have to cut. though like harri`s they were only attached by skin and some nerves. absolutely amazing. they looked like burns victims with all four hands bandaged in the double buggy while they healed. after sophie we looked for it on jessica`s scan whilst pregnant but unforunately she must have had them tucked in. anyway its been lovely to read your story and see someone else experiencing the same thing. good luck for the future x
Katherine - posted on 03/03/2011
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Polydactyly! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polydactyly It's not actually a birth defect, it's either because you and your husband both have the genes from it, or there was a mutation in genes that caused it. I honestly think it's kind of neat. :) I'm almost positive the trait for it is a dominant one, but I don't have the link to back that up at the moment.
I had a little boy I worked with in daycare who had two thumbs on one hand. It took me weeks to notice it, and when I did, I nearly dropped the poor kid off my lap, I was so startled.
If you want to keep them on, ask the docs what the pros on cons would be. I bet there's websites talking about it, where you could ask questions of people who still have their extra digits.