He had promotional pamphlets made up and began placing ads in newspapers for people to come see her. Her birth was not marked by anything out of the ordinary, and her mother claimed to have had a typical labor and delivery, apart from the baby being momentarily in the breech position.The doctors who examined the baby after birth reported her to be strong and healthy, adding that she was growing at a good rate. In the spring of 1887, approximately a year after marrying Bicknell, Corbin became pregnant for the first time: her condition was discovered by Dr. Lewis Whaley, of Examining Corbin, Whaley discovered that the duplication of her external sexual organs was mirrored by a similar duplication internally. Though antibiotics make the condition easily treatable today, in the 1920s there was no such treatment available.On May 6, 1928, her casket was buried and covered in concrete.Various family members stood vigil over the drying concrete until it was set, an extra precaution to prevent grave robbers from stealing her corpse. According to medical journals written by the physicians that studied Myrtle Corbin throughout her life, she was able to move her smaller inner legs, though they weren’t strong enough for her to be able to walk on. The mother is standing while Myrtle is seated in what looks like a type of high chair. As a result, she was born with two pelvises side by side.With each pelvis, she had two sets of legs, one normal sized, and one small.
After performing in the sideshow and giving birth to her children, Myrtle Corbin’s life was rather normal. What surprised everyone again about Josephine Myrtle Corbin story was the fact that the seven other children that her parents gave birth to were perfectly ordinary. The Corbins had four sons and four daught The doctors examined the baby after birth, and reported… I have known Mrs. B. since she was a tiny child, as the 'four-legged girl,' but never realised the perfect dual development of both external and internal genital organs until she became my patient in [a] case of pregnancy" — Lewis Whaley, quoted in the Whaley, Lewis. Myrtle's birth was not marked by anything "peculiar about the labour or delivery" according to her mother. Despite her unique anatomy (she had two sets of internal and external reproductive anatomies), doctors did not believe there was a reason she couldn’t carry to term.
According to Whaley, upon being told that she was pregnant, she replied in disbelief, saying "If it had been in my right side I would come nearer believing you are correct. Corbin was born in Lincoln County, Tennessee. Mrs. Bicknell was physically responsible as a mother and wife with the ability to accomplish all her household chores and care for her children. The promotional pamphlets described her as a girl with “as gentle of disposition as the summer sunshine and as happy as the day is long.” And, indeed, that appeared to be true.Throughout her time as a sideshow attraction, she became wildly popular. Both of them were redheads, with blue eyes and very fair complexions. While enquiring, her mother claimed that she had typical labour and delivery, except for the momentary … Corbin with her husband and daughter in later life Though her case continued to pop up in medical journals around the country, she maintained a quiet existence in her Texas home with her husband and children. The couple was able to raise up four kids, three girls and one boy, even though the first pregnancy was unsuccessful. By visiting small towns and cities and performing for the public, she ended up earning up to $450 a week. All in spite of having four legs.Second, the doctors noted that the couple bore a striking resemblance to each other. Both parents were described by physicians who examined the infant shortly after her birth as being very similar in appearance, "both having red hair, blue eyes, and very fair complexion"; in fact, they looked so similar that the physicians felt compelled to point out that they were not "blood kin". He determined that it was in her left uterus that Mrs. B. was pregnant. Fortunately, Myrtle Corbin children born later in her life were healthy and normal.
Myrtle Corbin as a young girl She used to be considered as quite the popular attraction with P.T. After all, several physicians and showmen had offered money for her body, and her family knew that there were people willing to go to great lengths to get one last piece of Myrtle Corbin, “The Four-Legged Girl From Texas.”The Story Of Myrtle Corbin, P.T. Which, of course, didn’t really matter, as they were not long enough to touch the ground. Eventually in 1928, she died as the result of a streptococcal skin infection. She’d met a doctor named Clinton Bicknell and fallen in love. She was, reportedly, between three and four months pregnant at the time.Broadside of Myrtle Corbin, published between 1871 and 1881 For all intents and purposes, Josephine Myrtle Corbin was a normal girl. They actually looked so similar that the doctors felt it necessary to explicitly point out that the two were not “blood kin” in their medical reports.Despite the two factors the doctors listed, it seemed that the young girl was simply an oddity – her parents had had seven other children, all of whom were perfectly ordinary.Later, it would be determined that she was born with dipygus and her condition was likely the result of her body’s axis splitting as it developed. A year later she was found to be nursing “healthily” and “thriving well.” Overall, Myrtle Corbin was a perfectly healthy, active, and thriving baby girl. Her birth was not marked by anything out of the ordinary, and her mother, Nancy claimed to have had a typical labor and delivery - apart from the baby being momentarily in the breech position.