American model and singer Taylor Muhl recently learned the birthmark on her stomach was her twin sister fused to her body.
The 33-year-old had absorbed her twin while in the womb, The Daily Mail reported. The model only learned of her condition after watching a TV documentary on Chimerism. She was officially diagnosed with the condition in 2009 after visiting a throat doctor a week after watching the documentary.
The condition known as Chimerism is when an in individual is composed of two or more genetically distinct cell lines originating from different zygotes. On Muhl's left side of her body, everything is a little bigger. She also has two immune immune systems and two blood streams.
A picture Taylor posted on Facebook to explain her condition visibly shows her torso is divided down the middle with her skin colour on one side and her twin's pigmentation on the other. Her case is made even more rare as most Chimeras display the symptoms internally or might have small marks.
Having different immune systems causes her to be allergic to metal only on one side of her body. She also gets hit worse during the flu season as both immune systems weaken while fighting the other's cells.
She decided to share her condition to show what makes her unique and wants to encourage others to do the same. "Being in the entertainment business there's an overwhelming amount of pressure to appear perfect. I hope by showing my own imperfections, I can now inspire others with imperfections, to love themselves unconditionally and know they're beautiful just the way they are!," she writes in a post on Facebook.
Worldwide there are only 100 cases of Chimerism documented.
