Baby born with 12 fingers, 12 toes...all fully formed and functioning!
 

This just looks so weird to me!

http://news.aol.com/article/baby-12-fingers-toes/324588

I used to babysit for a family of five boys. All five were born with a sixth finger on their left hands. The parents had the extra finger removed while they were still at the hospital.

I always wonder, in cases like this. Is this kid going to grow up and resent mom and dad for amputating something unique and special about him? Or is the kid going to grow up and resent mom and dad for letting him go through school getting teased for having 6 digits?

I did Civil Air Patrol with a girl whose leg was amputated above the knee. She had a prosthetic leg. When she was born, she had clubfoot, so her parents were faced with the decision to either amputate or let her grow up with a malformed, not very functional left leg.

I just don't know how parents make decisions like this for their kids (decisions that the kids should be making for themselves... if they weren't kids.) That's got to be so hard to imagine your child as an adult and then imagine what his/her preference would've been.

The doctor who spoke said that the child could have phenomenal typing skills. I would imagine that 6 digits could be a hindrance when typing. Think of how the home row keys are designed.

If they aren't functional I could see where removing them would be fine, but like the doctor said, he could be amazing at pretty much any musical instrument, plus, his work, so that's like chopping off some one's finger.

And I remember reading somewhere that that is actually the dominant gene, it's just really rare.

You do the best you can with the knowledge you have, and hope that your children will understand that some day. Most "extra" digits aren't functional, so that would make the decision easier, I would think. The whole circumcise/don't circumcise thing is a headache - there really are some embittered men out there!

he'd have easier access to the comma

I actually don't think this is a valid argument.

As ILoveMyAKA pointed out, the home keys on a QWERTY keyboard are set up for four fingers plus the thumb. There isn't room for a fifth finger. On the left hand, that finger would be over the caps lock key! And how would the poor kid even learn to type? Normal typing classes are set up for five fingered people - remember the color coding? And who would come up with a way to type with six fingers so they could teach the kid?

For a musical instrument, I know at least the guitar and piano beginners' books are all numbered for the fingers, 1 through 4. That's just how they're taught. And it wouldn't help to have a sixth finger for the strings or the brass instruments.

I just think this kid would end up feeling very, very different and left out if he keeps the sixth finger. Can you imagine how you'd feel if a girl recoiled when she saw your hands? I think a lot of people would be creeped out, at least initially. Or - this is silly - what about gloves? Would the kid be more likely to have carpal tunnel, since there's more muscles and tendons to be irritated? If the kid got to be 30 and decided he wanted the extra digits removed, could he do it? Would he be able to find a doctor who would agree to remove fingers that had been fully functional for 30 years? Would the recovery time take forever, and would he need live-in help for that time since you can't do ANYTHING without your hands?

And his toes. He'd have to look for special shoes with a huge toe box. He couldn't ever wear sandals because people would stare and make him feel uncomfortable. He'd feel bad at the beach when he was unavoidably barefoot and his sixth toes are on display and suddenly that's what everyone's talking about.

I think they should remove the extra digits.

I think the kid will be fine.

I also want to note that his extra fingers and toes don't make him nearly as freaky as the St. Luke's pediatrician featured in the video who seems to think style-wise he's living in the 1860s.

Snort.

I think this is making it a bigger deal than it really is. The kid has one extra finger on each hand, so he'll figure out how to type...maybe he'll just shift his hand down one key (so like his index finger will be on the G & H keys instead of the F & J).

I don't know many people who type correctly anyways.

If the digits are fully functioning, I don't see a reason for removing them. The child will learn to adapt just like those without digits learn to adapt. One of the students at my school only has three fingers, and while it was difficult, she has adapted and does many things people said she could never do such as be a star volleyball player.

Personally, I have two knuckle bones missing in each hand which has added to some early arthritis and discomfort. I believe that even if you are different, you can still fit in.

Seriously?? I only know one or two people that don't.

The majority of your reasons have to do with self-esteem. I don't believe that's a good enough reason if, in fact, the extra digits could be useful and are fully functional (and they are).

Same. Everyone I know that is my age (in college) know how to touch type. The people who do the "point and type" are the ones my parents' age.

His hands are "cute" as an infant. They'll look more weird as adult hands. I wouldn't be able to decide on the leave them or not debate unless I was in that situation. I'd be more prone to leave them because they are functioning, but I also know how cruel kids (& some adults) can be. I just didn't agree with the doctor's assessment that the extra digits would mean advantages in typing or music as HotdamnImaPhiMu said.

I'm one of the few people that use all my fingers to type (like the way they show you in school) and also not stare at the darn keyboard.

Most people I know use 2-3 fingers, while staring at the keyboard the entire time. I guess that is why they type around 30-40mph.

I can't watch my dad type, and I can't wait for him to type anything. More often than not I end up ripping the keyboard away from him and forcing him to dictate to me because it drives me that crazy.

My mom used to do the same thing to him, although she was quicker on a number pad (being a CPA will do that to ya) than she was on a QWERTY keyboard.

When my dad was here over Christmas and was annoying me with his laptop, I grabbed it and typed the e-mail that he was trying to send. He said "You know for the last 15 years of her life your mom used to do this to me, and I always asked her 'how am I'm supposed to get better at this if you never let me do it myself?' Now I'm glad that you've picked up her bad habits as well as her good, because to be honest I've been annoying myself with my inability to type."

It's really sad when your typing style is so bad that it annoys you. He doesn't even use the 2-3 fingers method. One finger on the left hand, one finger on the right. Drives. Me. Crazy.

I'm not sure there'd be any advantage in typing or music.

You'd think the kid should play the piano, but I think that'd be a tough challenge for teachers who, for their entire careers have been considering technique and fingering in terms of 8 fingers/two thumbs. Anyone who has ever had to suffer through learning a Bach piece knows exactly what I'm talking about.

As someone who plays the violin, I think a 6th digit would come in really handy, at least on the left hand. As far as the bow hand, I'm not really sure what I'd do with the extra finger.

Wind instruments, I think would be out of the question for the most part.

30-40 wpm? I don't know how I would deluge GC with my posts if I only typed at 30-40 wpm.

I don't know how anyone survives at work using the hunt-and-peck method. I can't imagine how long it'd take you to type up a report or just get through your emails in the morning.

But think about how good the kid will be at Guitar Hero! I often wish I had an extra finger!

It would be unfair.

Damned orange button.

I do it exactly like I was taught in high school. I was the fastest typer in my class and I still type faster than anyone I know.** I'm actually annoyed by slow typers who look at their keyboards--I want to type for them.

** Except for one of my Sorors. She and I used to have typing competitions...she's like 1000000000 wpm. :)

hahaha...I think i'm the fastest typer of anyone I know as well. Except when I took my keyboarding class, I would cheat. Instead of typing 10 of the exact same sentence, I'd just copy & paste it. lol. My teacher never caught on.

I never knew it was so difficult for people to type, but apparently it is for some people. Although my aunt (who is the one that types with only 2-3 fingers) can go like 1 billion mph on a number pad w/o looking at the numbers. I'm sooo slow on that.

I challenge thee to a duel. :) Noooo cheating!!!

Some people say their fingers are too big for the keyboard. Some people haven't memorized the keys.

I type fast, but it's from memory...sorta. I can only type quickly the words I know how to spell. When I'm copying a document, if I get to a word for which I'm not confident on the spelling, I slow down a little to make sure it's right. Then again, my brain is weird and I actually "see" words when people are speaking.

I definitely type the fastest out of my coworkers and people often ask me to type up documents for them so they can get on with their business.

Maybe for a viola (which are sized to the individual), but it would be way to cramped for him to play a violin.

I'm just thinking how it'd pretty much obviate the need for even-numbered positions which have always been my bane.

Man! I just thought of this, and then scrolled down....voila! There was the comment for the win! (Sorry, I'm a little exclamation point crazy apparently.)

The kid wouldn't be that different! My uncle (and several other memebers of my family) were born with the digit for a sixth finger. Some of them were removed at the hospital, but most just turned out to be little bumps or little stumps. In the reality of the world, no body really even notices it. It tends to be a genetic thing.

Oh God do I understand that! I cannot stand to see my mom play Pac-Man on the computer because she uses the 1-2 finger method. AAAAGGGGHHHH! It drives me batty, but when she types, good God, that woman is fast!
I learned how to type in school and know that I can go pretty fast and I have been asked to type things for other people because of the quickness of it all.

The kid can play drums. He'll never drop the sticks.

He can learn to type on his own. As I did. In this day and age, kids are on the computer when they're 4 years old. I'm sure that by the time he'll really need to use a computer, he'll be fine.

If people stare, that's their problem. I have so many little weird things about me that are different, but honestly, I love it. For instance, the pinky toe on my left foot basically sits on top of the other toe next to it. When I wear sandals, people ask about it, and I have some people stare at it. My friends will even bring it up and have me show people. Who cares?

If they're functioning fingers and toes, I say leave them. If the kid is really that upset and bothered by them, can he have them removed later? Because I would suggest going that route.

I say leave them for right now. Only because the finger they would end up cutting off looks like a pinky, but the next smallest one does not. Plus, I've never seen a seamless extra finger removal, there is always a bony bump and scar (my cousin also had an additional finger on her hand). He's super cute and the little toesy are adorable. It only sucks that it would probably be easier to remove them now.

Well...after I think about it, I'd probably remove the extra toes (for comforts sake w/ shoes and all) but leave the fingers. And also because if he did want to remove them later, it could potentially that cause problems with walking and all, no?

See, now I was thinking he'd have problems walking if they DIDN'T remove the toe.

All this talk makes me glad I'm not his parents and don't have to make this decision. Sometimes I'm really glad I don't have kids because the decisions you have to make can be so powerful. And it starts right away (with boys, you have to decide about circumcision).

You GC'ers who are parents... I'm a little bit in awe.

That sounds like me. We began learning keyboarding in elementary. That's when we learned the home row keys & whatnot. I remember being in a junior/senior split computer apps class my senior year. I was typing, and this chick was amazed that I could type without looking at the keyboard. I was amazed that we grew up in the same school disctrict, and she could only hunt and peck.