Baby girl born without an eyeball has her socket STRETCHED to make way for a glass eye to stop her face from drooping

Izabella Myers began wearing a plastic expander at just three months old
But now she is fitted with an increasingly bigger ball every two weeks
The left side of the nine-month-old’s face currently droops by half an inch
A glass eye is needed to ensure Izabella’s face develops evenly

Stephen Matthews For Mailonline

Published:
11:27 EST, 23 August 2016

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Updated:
11:41 EST, 23 August 2016

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A baby who was born with one eye is undergoing a gruelling procedure to stretch her socket to prevent her face from drooping.

At just three months old, Izabella Myers began wearing a to prevent her left orbit from closing over while her skull is developing.

But now, the nine-month-old is fitted with increasingly bigger clear balls every two weeks to make way for an artificial eye.

The expanders will stretch the socket and absorb bodily fluid from surrounding skin until it’s big enough to hold a prosthetic eye.

Izabella Myers, from Pennsylvania, was born without an eye (left). At just three months old she began to wear an expander (right) to prevent her socket from closing over, but now the nine-month-old is being fitted with increasingly bigger balls

Her mother, Ms Miller, 27, first learned about her daughter’s condition during her 20 week scan, when doctors couldn’t see anything where her left eye should be

Izabella lacks vision on one side and needs to twist her body in order to see items on her left

The glass eye is a medical necessity to ensure Izabella’s face develops evenly as, currently, her left side droops by around half an inch.

But her mother Alexis Miller, 27, from Pennsylvania, revealed she would prefer her little girl not to be given one.

She said: ‘Medically, Izabella needs a prosthetic eye, but if she didn’t, I’d rather wait until she was old enough to decide for herself if she wants one.

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‘The day she gets it will be bittersweet. I love the way she is now and she’ll be different with two eyes.

‘I don’t think she needs to change to fit in.’

Izabella was officially diagnosed with microphthalmia, a rare condition whereby one or both eyeballs are abnormally small, when she was born.

Ms Miller first learned about her daughter’s condition during her 20 week scan, when doctors couldn’t see anything where her left eye should be.

Doctors confirmed there was traces of tissue, meaning her eye had started to grow but had stopped.

Lacking vision on her left side, she now needs to twist her body in order to see things.

She is also working with a therapist to help strengthen the sight in her right eye.

At birth, Izabella was officially diagnosed with microphthalmia, a rare condition whereby one or both eyeballs are abnormally small

Doctors said there was traces of tissue, meaning her eye had started growing but stopped

Further investigations found the condition was passed to Izabella from her father Eric Myers, 35, (right), whose great, great grandmother had also had it. Ms Miller (left) revealed she would prefer her little girl not to be given a prosthetic eye

She added: ‘I was devastated. No-one wants their child to have that problem.

‘When she was born though, I thought she was beautiful.’

Further investigations revealed the condition was passed to her from her father, Eric Myers, 35.

WHAT IS MICROPHTHALMIA?

Microphthalmia is an abnormality that arises before birth and occurs in every 10,000 children.

In this condition, one or both eyeballs are abnormally small.

In some cases the eyeball may appear to be completely missing; however, even in these cases some remaining eye tissue is generally present.

It may be caused by environmental factors that affect early development, such as a shortage of certain vitamins during pregnancy and radiation.

Mr Myers revealed his great grandmother also suffered from microphthalmia.

She can blink and cry – but when she sleeps, she does so with her left socket wide open.

Ms Miller said: ‘At the moment, people stare at Izabella and ask questions.

‘As she gets older, she’ll understand what people are saying and I’m worried how she’ll be treated at school as even wearing a prosthetic, people will be able to tell something’s different.

‘But I’ll tell her not to listen to the comments and that she can do anything she puts her mind to.

Ms Miller revealed that her sister, Kyliegh, eight,was scared of her at first but has since grown to love her.

But she said now her sister tells people she was born without an eye and that she is no different to anyone else.

Izabella’s family are fundraising at www.gofundme.com/izabellaneedsaneye