'Tom Thumb', World's Smallest Baby Boy, Born Weighing Half A Pound (VIDEO)

'Tom Thumb', World's Smallest Baby Boy, Born Weighing Half A Pound (VIDEO)

Meet 'Tom Thumb,' the 25-week-old baby boy who weighed a mere 9.7 ounces at birth - less than a can of soda.

Doctors believe the baby is likely to be the smallest premature boy to have survived in the world. He was born 15 weeks early at the University of Gottingen, in western Germany, in June.

Doctors did not publicize the baby at first due to his perilous health. The baby was kept on an incubator for 24 hours a day, breathing and eating with tubes and constantly monitored. Now, weighing 8.2lbs, he has been allowed home with his parents.

While 'Tom Thumb,' as doctors nicknamed him, is the most premature boy to survive, there have been three smaller premature girls born. The smallest premature baby to survive, a girl born in Miami in 2004, is thought to have been born after 21 weeks. Experts advise doctors not to resuscitate babies born before 23 weeks in the womb.

A spokesman for the university told Sky News that doctors were "extremely proud" of the boy.

"This was an incredible fight for life," the spokesman added.

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