A baby born with four legs and two penises has been described as a “gift from God” by his mother.

The 23-year-old woman, known only as Lalitamma, had orginally been willing to raise her son as he was, because she was too poor to afford treatment.

But after the Vijayanagara Institute of Medical Sciences (VIMS) in the country's central Karnataka province, agreed to treat the boy, she allowed him to go under the knife.

“It was not normal,” Dr Virupaksha T told the Times of India newspaper, after he delivered the baby, adding that the baby was not being kept under observation.

His colleague, Dr Divakar Gaddi added that the case was “very challenging” for his team of surgeons.

But the boy's mother Lalitamma said the boy was "God's gift to us".