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Woman gives birth to lizard, not human baby

An Indonesian woman gave birth to a baby gecko, instead of a human being, the U.K tabloid paper Metro reported Thursday. 

A midwife claimed that she found a baby lizard on the birthing table while assisting the mother in labor, Debi Nubatonis. 

The living gecko was the only thing found between the legs of the mother who had all the usual signs of being 8 months pregnant. The woman was covered in mucus and blood as she was giving birth. 

The Indonesian authorities are actually taking the unbelievable case rather seriously by launching an official investigation into the incident. 

The probe suggested that the woman, already the mother of two human children, was suffering from pseudocyesis, or phantom pregnancy, with an empty womb.

A doctor, the chief medical officer of nearby Kupang City, Indonesia, ruled out the possibility that the woman gave birth to a gecko. 

“The gecko coming out is probably some kind of hoax. Childbirth of another species has never been reported in science,” he was quoted as saying.

Some news organizations have quoted neighbors claiming that the Indonesian mother and her family apparently practice witchcraft, which some believe is the explanation behind the birth of a lizard from the woman. 

By Ock Hyun-ju and news reports (laeticia.ock@heraldcorp.com)