Josephine Myrtle Corbin: Learn the story of the four-legged woman

If life was not complicated enough as it is, just imagine the problems you would face if you were born with the same problem as the girl in the picture above. Her name is Josephene Myrtle Corbin, and she became famous for being born with a rare anomaly known as caudal duplication syndrome, due to which the girl had four legs.

Caudal duplication syndrome occurs when, at some point in the development of a twin pregnancy, the fertilized eggs do not separate completely and end up growing together from a specific stage of pregnancy. Thus, it is not a case of a parasitic twin, but a dyspeptic baby, that is, with the body fully doubled from the waist down.

Profitable Aberration

Josephine was born in 1868 in Lincoln County, Tennessee, and from the waist down she had everything in double, like two pelvis, two full-fledged reproductive and excretory devices, and two pairs of legs, made up of two full-size ones. and two smaller ones. Although so many limbs and all were mobile and active, only one of Josephine's legs was fully functional.

The poor girl soon became a celebrity, traveling across the country to perform at fairs and shows as a freak. However, at the age of 14 Josephine got a contract to earn $ 250 a week - an amount equivalent to about $ 550, something extraordinary for the time - to work in a circus.

After a few years, Josephine got tired of the introductions and eventually retired, eventually marrying a doctor Clinton Bicknell, with whom she had several children. With her children already grown up, the "Woman with Four Legs" performed again in New York City, receiving a salary of $ 450 a week (or nearly $ 1, 000), and died in 1928 at the age of 60.

* Originally posted on 28/06/2013.

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