You may have heard of a girl born without arms and legs or perhaps encountered a blind girl. However, it may surprise you to learn that a girl was born without eyes, a result of a rare genetic disorder.
Robert and Taylor Ice were thrilled when they discovered they were expecting a baby after facing infertility struggles. They were assured that their unborn child was healthy. However, upon the birth of Wrenley Ice via C-section on November 23, weighing 6 pounds and 10 ounces, they sensed that something was amiss.
Taylor noticed that Wrenley wasn’t opening her eyes and raised the concern with the nurse. Initially attributing it to the typical behaviour of newborns adjusting to light after being in the dark womb, they were taken aback when the paediatrician examining their baby revealed shocking news.
“He paused during his examination and glanced up at us, saying, ‘Your daughter doesn’t have any eyes,'” recounted the mother.
“I looked at him and asked, ‘What do you mean, are they small?’ He responded, ‘No, they aren’t there. I just burst into tears because I couldn’t fully comprehend what that meant at the time”, she said.
The couple from Poplar Bluff travelled over 150 miles to the Children’s Hospital in St. Louis in hopes of finding answers.
“One diagnosis led to another,” the mother explained, referring to her baby born without eye tissue and with sealed lids.
Finally, Dr. Nate Jensen, a geneticist, identified a disorder known as haploinsufficiency of PRR12, a gene responsible for a range of neurodevelopmental, eye and multisystem abnormalities.
“This condition is incredibly rare — there are fewer than 30 documented cases worldwide,” Jensen informed the outlet.
“In PRR-12 disorder, there’s a spectrum of how patients are impacted. Some individuals with the same gene mutation may have one eye affected, which could be absent, as in Wrenley’s case,” he explained.
“Alternatively, it may be smaller. In Wrenley’s situation, both eyes are affected and completely absent,” the expert elaborated, noting that the condition could also affect Wrenley’s developmental and intellectual progress.
Jensen explained, “There’s nothing Wrenley’s mother or father did to cause this, nor anything they could’ve done to prevent it. It’s entirely random.” Meanwhile, Taylor remarked, “I mean, we had a better chance of winning the Powerball.”
The parents expressed that, in their eyes, they did win the lottery with their baby.
“It’s like holding the whole world in your hands,” Robert said, gazing affectionately at his long-awaited child. In the end, I believe we were chosen to support her along the journey and that we’ll learn from her as well,” he added.
Taylor also pointed out that for Wrenley, this is simply her reality.
“For her, this is just her normal,” she remarked.
The family shared on GoFundMe that Wrenley will require surgery to infuse her eyelids and insert spacers to ensure proper development of her facial structure.
“They mentioned that she will eventually receive prosthetic eyes as she grows older. With access to resources, assistance, support and love, we are hopeful that she will flourish and lead a fulfilling and joyful life.”
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