Sixteen-month-old Lei Yadi Min plays at her house in South Okkalarpa township on the outskirts of Yangon, Myanmar, on Tuesday, Feb. 15, 2011. The Myanmar girl was born with six fingers on each hand and seven toes on each foot on Oct. 18, 2009. (AP Photo/Khin Maung Win) (AP)
The parents of a 16-month-old girl in Myanmar, who was born with 12 fingers and 14 toes, are striving to make their daughter a Guinness World Record holder.
Le Yati Min is a healthy toddler who was born with polydactylism — being born with an extra finger or toe — which is fairly rare, but even more so to have spare functional digits on both hands and feet like baby Le.
"I asked the nurses whether my kid was born complete with hands and legs," said her mother, Phyo Min Soe, 26. "They replied that the baby even has more than she needs.”
A neighbor is helping her mother apply to claim the record hearing, which is currently held by two people in India, who have 12 fingers and 13 toes each, according to the Guinness World Records’ website.
Le lives with her family in a small wooden house on the outskirts of the Southeast Asian country's former capital of Yangon, where she runs around with seven toes on each foot.
Soe said Tuesday that she'd be happy to see Le gain a world record, but even without that, her daughter already has a happy life, and even some natural advantages.
"She seems to have a stronger grip on things — so she doesn't drop things much," she says, as Le plays nearby with a mobile phone.
Dr. Craig Camasta, a surgeon in Atlanta, Ga., said many parents of babies with polydactylism choose to have an operation to get rid of the extra fingers or toes to avoid social stigma, but that "It's not necessary that the extra digits be removed."
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
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