I can assure you my experience has not been easy. Hope you have fared better.

Eugene

Gosh, Eugene, we're sorry to hear that your extra toes have caused so much pain in your life. Rest assured, "Girl H" has had a much easier time of it than you have.

A Friend With Eight Toes
I have a friend who has eight toes on his left foot (Two big toes and two extra middle toes). His right foot is normal.

Because he has so many toes on this foot, he doesn't wear a shoe on his foot, because his foot is too wide. Instead, during the summer he only wears a special white sock which was designed especially for his foot. He is not embarrassed to go in public without his sock on, and, on a very nice day, can occasionally be seen walking with a shoe and sock on his right foot, and his eight toes out in the open on his left. Of course, his foot gets filthy sometimes, but being that he doesn't wear a shoe, it is easy for him to clean his foot, even if there are more than the normal number of toes.

During the winter, he wears a special shoe, which is open at the top and has a piece of leather at the bottom, so he shouldn't be able to feel the cold.

I guess this beats your story of the girl with six toes! No, he doesn't give pictures or grant autographs.

Owen

It's an interesting story, Owen, and we thank you for sharing it with us! However, we disagree with you about your story "beating" ours. Your friend has eight toes on one foot, but only five on the other! "Girl H" has six toes on each foot! And in poker, a pair of sixes beats an eight and a five. It was a nice try, though. Be sure to write back when you find somebody with eight toes on each foot!

Models Wanted
My name is Michael Unterhalter, and I run a small record company currently based in central Indiana. One of the bands I represent has been looking for a woman (or pictures of a woman) with extra fingers and/or toes to use for the cover to one of their upcoming albums.

I don't know how many people have responded to this website, or how many of them are claiming to have extra digits, but I was wondering if you would pass the message along to them that there is a demand for polydactyl modeling out there.

My organization would be willing to pay them for posing or for pictures they send. No "adult" rated pictures will be asked for, just simple shots of feet and hands. Anonymity can be maintained or credit can be given at the model's request.

Please respond and let me know if there is any way you can help us with this endeavor.

We thank you for your time and cooperation.

Michael Unterhalter (yogurtspoon@hotmail.com)

Consider the message passed along, Michael!

A Recent Discovery
I just recently found out (at the age of 39) that I was born with six toes. My mother didn't even know! My half sister was looking at my birth certificate and commented, "Hey, you were born with six toes, too!" After careful inspection of the footprint, we proceeded to find the scars on my feet where my toes were removed. (The area is numb.)

I wonder how many people have body parts removed as babies. I have a friend who thinks she was born with a tail.

Both my parents were in the Air Force and I have heard rumors of experiments done on Air Force personnel that resulted in six-toed babies. What do you think?

Millicent

Well, Millie, you've certainly brought up a bunch of interesting questions. Here at LeapToad, we're all scrambling to find our birth certificates to see if there's any mention of us being born with a tail!

We're intrigued by your theory about the Air Force. During the Cold War, most Soviet pilots had only five toes, so maybe the U.S. government figured that breeding a future generation of six-toed pilots would give Uncle Sam a competitive advantage! Hey, you never know!

Is It Real?
Just found your site. I love the pic of the six-toed girl. I assume it's a genuine pic, not faked!!

If you've not seen it before you might like my Amazing Feats site at http://members.xoom.com/fingertoes/

Andy

Oh, the picture is genuine, Andy. And as for Andy's site, it's devoted to pictures and biographies of women with no arms, but extremely dextrous feet. If that's the kind of thing that appeals to you, check it out.

An Overposed Toe
Hallo. I love your feet. I think you are very lucky to have six toes! This is my site. I have hallux valgus and an overposed toe - but I would like to have another toe!

ehehehe

Ok. See you!

Donato

Sorry, Donato, we don't have any extra toes lying around the office! If we did, we'd send you one! We did check out your website, though. And while we couldn't quite understand all the text (it's in Italian), we were able to comprehend the pictures, which speak the international language of toes!

And "ehehehe" to you, too!

Three thumbs
I have three thumbs - one on my right and two on my left. I am a 26 year old female who lives in Michigan. I am the third child of six children in my family.

The thumbs never really bothered me until earlier this year. Sure, I had grown up amongst the unforgiving stupid people who taunted me, but I was always able to get around that. It was not until my 3 and a half year old nephew noticed my hand and refused to grab hold of my hand to cross a street that I started to have nightmares about my children being teased as I was. (Don't get me wrong, I'm not married, and have no kids yet, but I plan to have some some day.) Instead I offered my right "normal" hand to him, to which he looked over carefully and then took.

I am looking to hear from someone who has not had their extra fingers and thumbs cut off - as I have all three still. I want to know if they have kids, and how they deal with adults they come in contact who act like the same kids I met back in school. I'd like to know of the possibilities of my children having to deal with this same blessing.

Please let me know.

Jesuina Atwood
jesuina@juno.com
Michigan

Girl H responds,

Dear Jesuina,

I can't say that I've ever had anyone refuse to grab my hand, but I've had a lot of people say, "Ewwww! What's wrong with your hands?" Yeah, like I'm encouraged to share with people who have just uttered sounds of disgust.

When my nephew was a few months into Kindergarten, and was taught that everyone has ten fingers and ten toes (yeah, right!), he got a little weirded out about my feet and hands. We had a little talk about how everyone is different, and how those differences make us special and life much more interesting (sounds like an episode of Sesame Street, doesn't it?) Remember, children only know what we teach them. Your nephew, like my nephew at the time, is young and doesn't know any better yet. That's where you come in -- talk to him and explain it the best you can. It will make both of you feel a lot better.

As for having children and the possibility of the trait being passed on to your children, you might want to talk to your family doctor. The probability of the trait being passed on to your children depends if the gene is dominant or recessive. Does anyone else in your family have an extra thumb or similarly expressed trait? The more people in your family that have the same or similar trait, the more likely it is that it will be passed on to your children, but that's not always the case. In my immediate family (Mom, Dad and siblings), 75% of us have some expression of extra toes or fingers, and my doctor once told me that I have a 90% chance of passing the traits on to my children. Yikes!

It's scary to think that, because I too was teased and harassed to no end in my childhood, and I wouldn't want to watch my children go through that. But, on the otherhand, going through all that nonsense has made me very accepting of others who are "different" too. I don't think that's a horrible lesson to learn, but it's definitely a hard way to learn it. Thank you for writing in to us here at Feetnotes, Jesuina! If anyone out there has any thoughts or comments, send them our way!

Learning disabilities?
My nephew has six toes, and he also has some intellectual developmental problems. Some nurses advised my sister-in-law to have him intellectually checked because of his extra toes, which did not make much sense to my sister-in-law back then. After a couple of years the learning disabilities started to show up. The nurses were right, it seems. Do you have any comment on this? Thank you.

Augusto

We'll let "Girl H" herself answer this one:

Sorry to hear about your nephew's difficulties. I'm not sure how the genetics that gave your nephew extra toes are exactly linked to possible intellectual difficulties, because it's different for everyone, (that's genetics for you!) The doctors that have delivered my family members have never suggested that the presence of extra digits would contribute to any kind of intellectual development problems. All I can say is that I haven't had any trouble, nor have there been any other family members along the line that have had any. I'm surprised that the nurses at the hospital didn't give you and your family more of answer than it's just a "hunch."

A Decision to Make
I don't know the advantages of it but, I would like to know if there are any. That will help me in a decision that I have to make.

Jermaine

"Girl H" responds:
Advantages??

I've been told that I should have superior balance, but I've never been able to prove that theory (just ask my ballet teacher.) However, I do swim very well. And it's fun to tell drunk people about my extra toes. It really messes with their minds.

Otherwise, that's about it.