A 91-year-old woman who believed she had a large tumour growing inside her, has learnt it was actually a foetus.

Doctors treating Estela Melendez, of Chile, initially thought she had a tumour growing inside her stomach and sent her to be examined.

However medics discovered the concerning mass was actually a calcified foetus inside her womb.

It’s believed Ms Melendez had been carrying the child for at least 60 years.

Ms Melendez told CNN she had no idea she was pregnant.

View photos Ms Melendez and her late husband. Photo: CNN More

“The doctor said I had a tumour and that they needed to operate on me,” she said.

She said she had been married to her husband Manuel Gonzalez for 74 years, but the couple were unable to have children together.

She told reporters the couple ‘suffered tremendously’ due to this.

View photos Image of the foetus. Photo CNN More

Manuel died in January 2015 at the age of 91.

Since learning of the foetus, Ms Melendez says she considers it a reminder of the baby the pair had wanted so much.

Doctors have decided not to remove it as it would be too risky to operate on a woman of Ms Melendez’s age.

IN OTHER NEWS