A Choudhary family in Teusa village in Bihar has more than 25 members. Strangely, all of them are born with 12 fingers and 12 toes. This uniqueness has made them famous in their village and they are known as ‘the family with 24 fingers’.
Actually, the family suffers from polydactyly – a congenital physical anomaly of supernumerary fingers. While young boys of the family face problems in studies and holding a pen to write, girls face difficulties in finding a groom for them.
“I feel it is a blessing on all of us; else it is impossible to have all members of the family to have the same condition,’ said Sitbiya Choudhary, who is one of the 25 members of the family who live in Gaya village. “It must be some kind of message from God,” she added.
But her brother-in-law Krishna Choudhary had a tough time in getting his daughter married. “My father and grandfather had 24 fingers. I along with my brothers and sister have 24 fingers and our children and grandchildren are also affected by the condition,” said the labourer as per a report in Metro.
“I don’t have any problems with my extra fingers but my children and grandchildren suffer a lot. I’ve had boys that have refused to marry the girls of my family after learning of their condition.”
Well, education and finding a perfect match for the girls in the family are not their only problem. They also struggle to find suitable footwear. Therefore most of the family members have to constantly wear flip flops.
According to Dr Aayush Gupta, a dermatologist, “There may not be any physical issues related to the extra fingers but people do sometimes suffer from the psychological issues of living with such a condition.”
“Usually extra digits on the ulnar side cause no problem. These extra fingers could be removed in surgery if the patient requires but it can be costly,” he added.
