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After the latest surgery on his intestines the chances of survival have brightened somewhat for the 'mermaid' boy in Hunan Province. 

The infant is now able to drink milk and defecate normally, according to doctors. Earlier he'd been fed intravenously. "We expect the fragile boy to grow strong enough for more operations," Zhu Yiming, president of the Hunan Provincial Children's Hospital in Changsha, told China Daily.

The baby was found abandoned in front of the hospital on November 12 with a note attached to his clothing saying he was born three days previously. 

His legs, 21 centimeters in length, are joined together from thigh to heels, with the feet splayed out resembling a fish tail. The boy also suffers from congenital problems including defects of the intestine and alimentary tract, kidneys and urinary tract, heart and underdeveloped genitals and anus.

The condition, known as sirenomelia or mermaid syndrome, occurs in one out of every 70,000 births, according to Ye Zhichun, researcher at the Pediatrics Research Center in Changsha, the provincial capital.

"The condition is usually fatal within days of birth," said Ye. With round-the-clock care the baby is in a stable condition and weighs 2.86 kilograms which is 410 grams more than when he was found, said Xu Zhiyue, head of the hospital's intensive care unit. He is undergoing peritoneal dialysis which assists clean the blood and remove wastes to guard against kidney failure, said Xu.

According to Zhu the surgery to separate his legs won't be for at least a month and the most important task now is to keep the boy in a stable condition.

There are only two known survivors, both girls, of 'mermaid syndrome' in the world. One is Tiffany Yorks, a 17-year-old American whose legs were separated when she was a baby. The other is two-year-old Peruvian, Milagros Cerron, who underwent surgery last year.

According to Zhu the case of the 'mermaid' boy is more complicated than the two girls because he suffers from many dysfunctional organs. "The operations will be complicated and risky but we'll try our best," he said.

Surgery on the kidneys, heart and urinary tract will be conducted after separating the legs, said Zhu. The hospital would bear the cost of treatment.

Thousands of people from across the country have called the hospital to express their concerns for the child and offer help.

(China Daily November 30, 2006)