Sanju Bhagat learned to live with the strange bulging stomach that made him look like a pregnant man. It drew laughter from his neighbors, but Sanju had more important things to worry about. Most importantly, earning enough money for himself and his family to live on. 

Over time, however, his enormous stomach continued to grow to the point that it made breathing nearly impossible. Eventually unable to breathe, Sanju was forced to go to a hospital where the doctors told him some shocking news. Sanju wasn’t pregnant at all. Nor was he suffering from a tumor. 

What Sanju Bhagat had inside him was none other than his twin brother.

Sanju Bhagat’s Difficult Life

Even without the abnormality of Sanju’s stomach, he had a tough existence. He was born in Nagpur, India in 1963. In his early years, he didn’t show signs of medical abnormalities.

He worked on a farm as a teenager and always relied on his body to put food on the table for his family. Like many of his neighbors, however, no matter how hard Sanju worked, money was always a problem.

As if his life wasn’t already difficult enough, in his late 20s his stomach began to grow to a startling size. This was odd since Sanju barely had enough food to keep himself nourished, let alone gain weight. What’s more, he was out in the fields sweating and exerting himself every day. So why was his stomach growing?

Sanju didn’t know the answer, but he didn’t dwell on it. He simply put his head down and continued working as he always had, determined to provide for his family. Still, his enormous belly stuck out in his small community.

By the time he reached his 30s, people started referring to him as a pregnant man. They found his belly hilarious. They compared him to a woman who was about to give birth.

His family worried for Sanju. They urged him, again and again, to go visit a hospital to get his condition checked out. But Sanju felt that he couldn’t afford to take the time off of work.

He knew his family depended on him. He wouldn’t allow himself to lose the opportunity to make money for something that he considered an inconvenience.

It wasn’t until the bulge of his belly pushed against his diaphragm and caused him to stop breathing that he was finally rushed to a hospital in Mumbai. There, Sanju’s “inconvenience” would turn out to be something more shocking than anyone could have imagined.

A Medical Marvel

Dr. Ajay Mehta was one of the doctors on duty when Sanju Bhagat arrived at the hospital that day in 1999. 

When he first saw Sanju come in with his giant belly that looked like it was about to burst, he naturally thought that there was a tumor inside him. With the possible tumor restricting Sanju’s respiration, Mehta got right to work and opened Sanju up.

That’s when things got weird. As soon as Dr. Mehta sliced into Sanju’s stomach, an unusual amount of fluid spilled out. Then he looked inside. 

It took Dr. Mehta a moment to grasp what he was seeing. But soon the strange shapes took on meaning and he realized that what he was staring at was not a tumor – it was a human being.

As one doctor recalled, “He just put his hand inside and he said there are a lot of bones inside. First, one limb came out, then another limb came out. Then some part of genitalia, then some part of hair, some limbs, jaws, limbs, hair.”

Sanju Bhagat had been living his entire life with a twin brother inside of him, living off of the contents of his stomach. Dr. Mehta was floored.

“We were horrified. We were confused and amazed…To my surprise and horror, I could shake hands with somebody inside. It was a bit shocking for me.”

Doctors were puzzled over how this could have happened. In the beginning, they believed it was related to a phenomenon known as “vanishing twin syndrome.” This occurs when one twin dies during the pregnancy and gets reabsorbed back into the mother’s body. 

However, vanishing twin syndrome typically involves the death of one of the twins long before birth occurs. In Sanju’s case, his twin held on for 36 years.