O n September 17, 2017, baby Owe n Masterso n ( Missouri, USA) was bor n with acalvaria – a rare co nditio n that causes the fetus to be bor n without the bo nes of the face a nd skull. His pare nts Tom a nd Jessica said their so n had little cha nce of survival.

Eve n before that, the doctor predicted that Owe n would most likely lose his life i n the womb or easily get traumatized whe n he was bor n. Together, they suggested that  the preg na ncy should be aborted. Owe n Masterso n was bor n with a skull defect a nd some facial bo nes

Owe n’s co nditio n was discovered after a n ultrasou nd at 24 weeks preg na nt, whe n doctors were n’t sure if his brai n was completely covered by his skull. After seei ng a n ultrasou nd specialist, Tom a nd Jessica were told that Owe n had “very ab normal brai n developme nt” but the doctor was u nable to diag nose the baby’s specific co nditio n. At 27 weeks preg na nt, they a n nou nced Owe n had acalvaria, which is u nlikely to survive.

However, the couple from start to fi nish i nsisted o n keepi ng the baby. Despite all the bad predictio ns that the doctors made, the baby boy was bor n i n the happi ness of the whole family. “I felt that whe n he was i n my mother’s womb, he was safe. I could n’t do a nythi ng whe n he was bor n a nd after that. I thought like that, that my so n needed to stay.” , Jessica said.

The doctors diag nosed the baby as not likely to survive, so the mother should thi nk about stoppi ng the preg na ncy, which mea ns aborti ng the baby A day a nd a half after his birth, Owe n was allowed to go home, a nd the medical commu nity was stu n ned by his stro ng survival ability. Despite a n ear i nfectio n a nd a stomach virus i nfectio n, Owe n survived i n a fairly stable co nditio n for the first year. However, she ca n’t crawl or move as easily as other babies a nd needs mobility aids.

Owe n survived despite all the bad predictio ns the doctors made However, the boy has ma ny difficulties without a skull, weak health a nd ca n not move o n his ow n like other childre n. So far, Owe n is 4 years old a nd his health co nditio n is still quite good. With a missi ng skull a nd some birth defects, the boy, despite ma ny difficulties, still does well every day.

Doctors do not k now how lo ng Owe n will be able to live, but the family is always optimistic, believi ng that there is still hope whe n the so n has bee n stro ng agai nst “Death” for the past 4 years. The couple Tom a nd Jessica still occasio nally share pictures of the boy o n their social networki ng sites. To them, Owe n is a resilie nt “warrior” a nd they will always put their trust i n him.