A NEW mum has given birth to a baby girl who looks even older than her due to a rare condition.
A 20-year-old lady from South Africa has given birth to a baby girl that looks like an old woman due to a rare condition called progeria, a progressive genetic disorder that causes children to age rapidly.
Similarly to Brad Pitt’s character on the film The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, the little girl was born with deformed hands and wrinkled skin. The progeria syndrome, which also affects children under the age of two, is a hereditary disorder that accelerates aging.
Photos of the baby have been circulating on social media and some users likened her to an ape, causing outrage and anger among those who sympathize with her. Petros Majola, the director of the children’s rights group Khula Community Development Project, thinks that communities need to be made aware of this issue.
It was gathered that the lady delivered the baby girl at home in Libode, in Eastern Cape after the ambulance her grandmother called failed to show up on time. After her birth, midwives in the area, including the baby’s grandmother, saw that she displayed behaviors that were unusual for newborns. Her hands are misshapen, and she has wrinkles on her skin.
The infant was transported right away to a hospital where she is presently with her mother after the midwives and the child’s grandmother were concerned about the development.
The baby’s grandmother said: “We were told there that she’s disabled. I noticed during her birth that there was something strange with her. She did not cry and she was breathing through her ribs.
Children diagnosed with progeria tend to die of arteriosclerosis at an average age of just 14.5 years. The Progeria Research Foundation has estimated that 132 children and young adults have Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria Syndrome across the world.
