Around two weeks ago, in the Kasturba Ghandi Hospital in the city of Chennai, a baby with one eye was born. But, doctors believe that this baby has a good chance of living.
The baby’s nose and nostrils are missing, which adds to the disfigurement. Only one in a million babies is born with this defect, as it is detected early in pregnancy and is always aborted. However, this wasn’t the case this time. A similar case had taken place in Russia too.
The parents chose to keep this disfigured child, who is expected to survive and who’s internal organs are in excellent condition. The real concern would be when the baby grows up, and will have to face constant and most likely unpleasant discrimination.
The cause of this little baby girl’s deformity is still not determined. But the hospital report’s listing of Cyclopamine offers a very tragic reminder of concerns over the state of Indian medical regulations, which include lax oversight of fertility clinics and low barriers of entry for human drug trials.