Doctors surprised that “Miracle” Baby born without eyes and had half her brain removed is ‘living and growing well’ (photos)

Doctors surprised that “Miracle” Baby born without eyes and had half her brain removed is ‘living and growing well’ (photos)

A “miracle” baby who was born without eyes and had half her brain removed has shocked doctors by growing well and not having complications.


“Doctors are extremely surprised at how she’s doing,” mom Allyanna Carter, 19, told SWNS.


“I was told she’d never be able to walk or talk — but she’s nearly crawling, even though she can’t use the right side of her body. She’s the best baby ever — and so talkative!” Carter gushed.


The North Carolina mom found out she was pregnant in November 2022 and suffered no complications.

Harlym looked “perfectly healthy” at her routine 20-week scan, Carter said.


It wasn’t until Carter gave birth on July 22 that she learned something was different about her child.

Doctors surprised that "Miracle" Baby born without eyes and had half her brain removed is
Doctors surprised that "Miracle" Baby born without eyes and had half her brain removed is
Doctors surprised that "Miracle" Baby born without eyes and had half her brain removed is


Doctors immediately whisked Harlym away to clean her and pulled Carter’s mom, Kacie, 40, to the side.


They told her there was a possibility Harlym had been born without eyes and they were trying to discern whether her face was just really swollen.

Doctors surprised that "Miracle" Baby born without eyes and had half her brain removed is
Doctors surprised that "Miracle" Baby born without eyes and had half her brain removed is
Doctors surprised that "Miracle" Baby born without eyes and had half her brain removed is


Doctors told Kacie that Harlym would go for a CT scan the following day and Kacie had to break the devastating news to her daughter.

“I wasn’t paying attention to what the doctors were telling my mom,” Carter recalled. “I was just holding Harlym, having quality time with my baby.”

Then, at 1 day old, Harlym had a seizure. The CT confirmed she’d been born without eyes.


“I was absolutely heartbroken. I was thinking about how she’d never be looked at as regular,” Carter lamented.


“It was very hard for me — but when she was transferred back to the NICU, I was told she had a lot of other conditions, and I thought, ‘I’m going to love her anyway,’” she added.

Doctors surprised that "Miracle" Baby born without eyes and had half her brain removed is
Doctors surprised that "Miracle" Baby born without eyes and had half her brain removed is

Harlym had been diagnosed with galactosemia, the inability to convert milk sugars into glucose and has to be fed through a tube, SWNS reports.

She also has choanal atresia, where the nasal passages are blocked by bone or tissue.


“At first I automatically assumed her conditions had something to do with me — any mom is going to blame herself,” Carter said.

 “But doctors told me there wasn’t a clear reason why she was born with so many conditions — it’s just genetics.”


Doctors also discovered the left side of Harlym’s brain was underdeveloped after she had several seizures.


She underwent a hemispherectomy in August to disconnect the left side of her brain from her right.

The surgery left her with permanent weakness in the right side of her body.


“Doctors were constantly telling me to think about Harlym’s quality of life — but I didn’t just want to pull the plug,” Carter recounted. “They said she wouldn’t be able to talk or walk, use the right side of her body — and she’d have global delay.”

But surprisingly, things are going better than expected for Harlym.

Carter says she’s almost crawling and she’s able to sit upright, hold her head up, babble, and drink from a bottle.


“She copies everything I do — like blowing bubbles with my tongue, or whistling. It’s all a good sign — doctors didn’t think she’d have any type of brain activity,” Carter beamed.

“Above all, she’s so happy,” she enthused. “She loves everybody, she laughs at everything — and she loves being held.”

Moving forward, Carter aims to enrol Harlym in a school when she’s old enough.


She’s also trying hard not to stress about the experiences Harlym is missing.

“We went to go and see Christmas lights the other day, but she doesn’t get to see them and enjoy them,” Carter said. 

“I just kept thinking about all the things she’s going to miss out on.”

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