A surprising case of pregnancy has come to light. This incident is unusual because the fetus was not developing in the womb but in the woman’s liver. The case involves 35-year-old Sarvesh from Dastura village in Bulandshahr district, western Uttar Pradesh, India, who was nearly three months pregnant.

She had been experiencing continuous vomiting and constant fatigue. As her health gradually worsened, she went to a doctor for treatment. The doctor advised her to get an ultrasound. However, the initial ultrasound report did not reveal any major issues. She was then prescribed medicine for a stomach infection. But even after taking the medicine for a month, her condition did not improve, prompting her to undergo another ultrasound. This time, the report was beyond imagination — even the doctors found it hard to believe.

Dr. Saniya Zehra, who performed the ultrasound, informed Sarvesh that the baby was in her liver. For Sarvesh and her husband, Parambir, this was an unimaginable diagnosis. Both found it difficult to believe the report. To confirm, they went from Bulandshahr to Meerut, where they underwent another ultrasound and an MRI scan. Once again, the reports showed the same result.

According to radiologist Dr. K.K. Gupta, who conducted the MRI, he had never encountered such a case in his 20-year career. Before reaching any conclusion, he reviewed the report multiple times and repeatedly asked whether Sarvesh’s menstrual cycle had been normal.

He said, “The right lobe of the woman’s liver had a 12-week pregnancy, in which the heartbeat was clearly visible. This condition is called intrahepatic ectopic pregnancy, which is itself extremely rare. In such cases, women experience heavy bleeding, which they often mistake for a normal period, leading to a delay in detecting the pregnancy.”

Doctors warned that if the fetus grew larger, there was a risk of the liver rupturing. In such a situation, neither the baby nor the mother would survive. Surgery was the only option.

Although she agreed to surgery, no doctor in Bulandshahr was willing to take the case. They went to Meerut, but there too they faced disappointment. Doctors there described it as a difficult case with both mother and child’s lives in danger, and advised them to go to Delhi. Sarvesh said, “We are poor and cannot afford the expenses in Delhi. So we decided to get treated here itself.” Eventually, a team of doctors at a private hospital in Meerut agreed to perform the surgery.

Dr. Parul Dahiya, a member of the surgical team, said, “When the patient came to me, she had been in pain for three months. She had ultrasound and MRI reports, which clearly showed it was a case of intrahepatic ectopic pregnancy. We discussed the case with senior surgeon Dr. Sunil Kanwal because such a situation requires a surgeon. He agreed, and then we proceeded with the operation.”

According to the doctors, the surgery lasted one and a half hours. She received 21 stitches on the upper part of her abdomen. Doctors advised her not to lift heavy objects, to eat light meals, and to take maximum rest.

What is hepatic ectopic pregnancy?

Normally, when a woman becomes pregnant, an egg released from the ovary is fertilized by sperm. The fertilized egg travels through the fallopian tube toward the uterus, where the embryo develops. Dr. Mamta, a professor at the Institute of Medical Sciences, BHU, explained, “In some cases, instead of reaching the uterus, the fertilized egg remains in the fallopian tube or attaches to the surface of another organ.”

In Sarvesh’s case, the egg got lodged in the liver. Since the liver has a good blood supply, it initially served as a ‘fertile ground’ for the embryo. However, after some time, this becomes a dangerous condition for both mother and child, leaving surgery as the only option.

Doctors say that out of 7 to 8 million pregnancies, only one may be a case of hepatic pregnancy.