Baby born with no eyes - but girl's mum refused abortion and says she is 'gorgeous'

A mum whose baby girl was born with no eyes is determined to give her a normal childhood.

Danielle Davis, 24, refused a termination when a routine scan showed her baby Daisy had a cyst on the brain.

When the girl was born doctors confirmed she had anophthalmia, a birth defect which affects just one in 10,000 babies.

The disability is triggered when the tissue which makes up a child's eyes fails to form in the womb, leaving empty sockets.

Care worker Danielle, who is raising Daisy with her partner Andrew Smith, 31, said: "It was a shock - we had never heard of it before.

"But she is our gorgeous baby and we have no regrets about turning down a termination.

"We want to give Daisy as normal a life as possible and give her the same opportunities as other children."

She added: "We had never heard of the condition before and neither had any of our friends or family.

"People didn't really know what to say when we told them.

"The cyst showed up on the 21-week scan and naturally we were worried about it.

"But none of the doctors said our baby could be born blind.

"Everyone has been really supportive and I can't thank the doctors and midwives enough for all of their help."

Now eight weeks old, Daisy is settling in with her siblings Logan, six, and Tyler, four, at the family home in Cwmbran, South Wales.
She will be admitted to the Great Ormond Street Hospital later this month for an operation to fit glass eyes.

They will be replaced when she is 18-months-old with painted eyes that will look more natural.

Her parents are now planning a 12,000ft skydive to raise funds for the Royal National Institute of Blind People charity.

The couple also want to raise awareness of the condition.

Danielle said: "I hope that by raising awareness other parents to be won't experience the same shock that we did if their child has the condition."