Mermaid Syndrome

Shiloh Pepin

Shiloh Jade Pepin (August 4, 1999 - October 23, 2009) was born in Kennebunkport, Maine, United States on August 4, 1999, with her lower extremities fused, no bladder, no uterus, no rectum, only 6 inches of large colon, no vagina, and with only one quarter of a kidney and one ovary. Her parents initially anticipated she could expect only a few months of life. Her natural kidney failed when she was just 3 months old. After that she was on dialysis. A kidney transplant at age 2 lasted a number of years, and in 2007 a second kidney transplant was successful. She attended Consolidated Elementary School. Shiloh was the only one of the three survivors of sirenomelia without surgery for separation of the conjoined legs. She died fighting a serious case of pneumonia on October 23, 2009, at Maine Medical Center in Portland, Maine, at the age of 10. Shiloh gained a following of admirers by documenting her condition on TV, Facebook and the Internet.

Sirenomelia, alternatively known as Mermaid Syndrome, is a very rare congenital deformity in which the legs are fused together, giving them the appearance of a mermaid's tail.

This condition is found in approximately one out of every 100,000 live births (about as rare as conjoined twins) and is usually fatal within a day or two of birth because of complications associated with abnormal kidney and urinary bladder development and function. More than half the cases of sirenomelia result in stillbirth and this condition is 100 times more likely to occur in identical twins than in single births or fraternal twins. It results from a failure of normal vascular supply from the lower aorta in utero. Maternal diabetes has been associated with caudal regression syndrome and sirenomelia.