North Carolina baby born without eyes and with half a brain defies the odds to crawl, sit up and start talking

A “miracle” baby who was born without eyes and had half her brain removed is baffling doctors by hitting all her milestones. Harlym Carter, who is five months old, was born with anophthalmia - a birth defect in which one or both eyes don’t develop fully.

Doctors discovered the left side of her brain was underdeveloped after Harlym had several seizures - and she had life-changing surgery to disconnect the left side of her brain from her right. But mum Allyanna Carter, 19, says she’s almost crawling, able to sit upright and hold her head up - as well as babbling and drinking from a bottle.

Allyanna, who cares for Harlym full-time, in Salisbury, North Carolina, said: “When I was first told about Harlym’s condition, I was heartbroken. But already, doctors are extremely surprised at how she’s doing. 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! Doctors told me there wasn't a clear reason why she was born with so many conditions - it's just genetics."

Allyanna went into labour on July 21, 2023 and Harlym was born the following evening at 9.08pm, at the Novant Health Centre, Salisbury. Doctors instantly took Harlym away to clean her - and pulled Allyanna’s mum, Kacie, 40, to one side. They told her there was a possibility Harlym had been born without eyes - but couldn’t work out whether her face was just really swollen.

Allyanna said: “I wasn’t paying attention to what the doctors were telling my mum - I was just holding Harlym, having quality time with my baby. They told her they were planning a CT scan the next day."

At one day old, Harlym had a seizure and the CT confirmed she'd been born without eyes.

Allyanna said: "I was absolutely heartbroken. I was thinking about how she'd never be looked at as regular. 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."

Harlym was born with several other rare health conditions - some of which haven’t yet been officially identified or named. The infant underwent a hemispherectomy - a surgery in which one side of the brain is removed or disconnected from the other - to stop her seizures in August this year. This has left her with a permanent weakness in the right side of her body.

Allyanna said: “Doctors were constantly telling me to think about Harlym’s quality of life - but I didn’t just want to pull the plug. 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 the thing is, she’s doing so well.”

Allyanna aims to enroll Harlym into mainstream school when she’s old enough - and constantly helps her to work on her brain function. She added that she does still feel sad her daughter can't see.

She said: “It definitely bothers me every day - we went to go and see Christmas lights the other day, but she doesn’t get to see them and enjoy them. I just kept thinking about all the things she’s going to miss out on.”