A baby boy has been born with three arms due to an exceptionally rare condition believed to affect around one in a million infants.

The baby was born with his right arm in the normal position, but had two additional arms on the left side of his body.

He was brought to Ahmedabad Civil Hospital in Gujarat, India, in December, where doctors carried out a procedure to remove the extra limb when he was just over two weeks old.

The boy, who is originally from Bhavnagar, also in Gujarat, was diagnosed with a rare condition called Polymelia, which causes a person to be born with additional limbs, often arms or legs.

The unusual condition occurs in the womb when cells develop differently during the earliest stages of embryonic development.

Doctors believe the embryo can begin developing in a way similar to conjoined twins. However, one twin may stop developing, while parts that had already begun forming — including limbs — can remain attached to the developing baby.

There are very few known cases of Polymelia around the world.

A CT scan at the hospital also revealed that the boy was born with a club foot, had only one kidney and had one testicle located higher inside his abdomen, the Ahmedabad Mirror reports.

The boy, who was born to diamond worker Ramesh Makwana and his wife, was originally taken to Bhavnagar Civil Hospital.

Doctors there were unsure how to treat such an unusual case and referred the family to specialists at Ahmedabad Civil Hospital, nearly 200km away.

In Ahmedabad, Dr Rakesh Joshi, head of paediatric surgery at the hospital, performed a procedure to remove the extra limb on Wednesday, December 17.

Before carrying out the procedure, Dr Joshi told the Ahmedabad Mirror: ‘We realised that apart from the extra arm on the left side, the baby had a right club foot and a missing kidney.

Doctors also planned to gradually straighten the club foot by placing it in plaster, he said.

He added that having one kidney should not prevent the child from enjoying good health or leading a normal life.

The baby boy’s father told the newspaper: ‘We have a daughter. We were hoping for a baby boy to complete our family and were happy when our son was born.

‘But when we came to know about his condition, we were worried — all we wanted was a healthy baby.

‘However, the doctors have assured us our son will be alright.’

The boy will now need physiotherapy to help strengthen and develop movement in his functional left hand, as well as treatment for his club foot.

MailOnline previously reported on a newborn girl from Pakistan who was born with a third arm due to Polymelia.

The additional arm was attached near her back, close to the spinal area.

At just four years old, the girl, who was from the Dera Ghazi Khan District in the Punjab province of Pakistan, underwent a procedure to remove the additional arm.

She is among a handful of patients worldwide known to have Polymelia.

In the same year, a three-year-old boy from Peru underwent a procedure after doctors discovered the developed remains of another twin within his abdominal area.

The most well-known case of the condition was Lakshmi Tatma, from India, who was born with eight limbs.

Doctors believed that an underdeveloped twin had stopped growing during pregnancy, while the limbs that had formed remained connected to her body.

Source: Daily Mail