![\"Shannon](\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2019\/01\/10\/12\/8355412-6577247-image-a-74_1547122125024.jpg\")
<\/p>\nA woman who was told she was infertile by doctors has given birth to a miracle albino baby.<\/p>\n
Shannon Conarty, 22, of Harrogate, North Yorkshire, was given a ten per cent chance of conceiving naturally after she was diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).<\/p>\n
The condition affects around ten per cent of women, and left Ms Conarty considering IVF.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She was shocked to discover she was expecting, after three years of trying, but failing, to get pregnant with her partner, Tom Kane, 30.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
In September 2018, Shannon gave birth to healthy baby girl with albinism, Ava Kane, who is now four months old.<\/p>\n
Albinism affects is estimated to effect one in 17,000 people worldwide, according to the National Institutes of Health.\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Shannon Conarty, 22, of Harrogate, North Yorkshire, gave birth to a health albino baby after doctors said she had a ten per cent chance of conceiving due to PCOS<\/p>\n
![\"Ava](\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2019\/01\/10\/12\/8355420-6577247-image-a-71_1547122048166.jpg\")
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Ava Kane, now four months old, was born in September 2018, after her parents, Ms Conarty and Tom Kane, 30, tried to conceive for three years\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ms Conarty said: ‘Becoming a mum has always been a dream of mine.<\/p>\n
‘Ava feels like a little miracle, and even more so after she was diagnosed with albinism.’<\/p>\n
Student is left HOSPITALISED after using an at-home eyebrow…<\/span><\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n The former party animal who is now ‘allergic’ to ALCOHOL:…<\/span><\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n The man who is allergic to nine types of BEER: 32-year-old…<\/span><\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Revealed: Why you see alluring food EVERYWHERE when you’re…<\/span><\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n In July 2011, aged 15, Ms Conarty was diagnosed with PCOS, a condition caused by an imbalance of hormones.<\/p>\n She said: ‘My weight fluctuated and my ovarian cysts were causing me a lot of pain.<\/p>\n Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) affects between eight and 12 percent of American women.\u00a0<\/p>\n The condition is marked by chronic ovarian cysts, which are fluid-filled sacs that can form if a follicle fails to deposit an egg.\u00a0<\/p>\n While any woman can get ovarian cysts, those with PCOS also have elevated levels of the male hormone, androgen.<\/p>\n Scientists do not know what causes this endocrine abnormality, but it often coincides with obesity and insulin resistance.\u00a0<\/p>\n Yet, like many aspects of PCOS, obesity contribute to the development of PCOS, or the relationship may go in the opposite direction, such that PCOS causes weight gain.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n ‘At the time, doctors revealed I had a ten per cent chance of conceiving children naturally as my fallopian tubes were covered in cysts.’<\/p>\n Woman with PCOS often have cysts on their fallopian tubes that contain immature eggs.\u00a0<\/p>\n The\u00a0hormonal imbalance of PCOS interferes with periods and the growth and release of eggs from the ovaries, effecting the ability to conceive.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n With treatment, most women with PCOS are able to get pregnant.\u00a0<\/p>\n ‘As I was still in high school at the time, I never gave it a second thought,’ Ms Conarty said.\u00a0<\/p>\n But two years later, when Ms Conarty was 17, she met Mr Kane, an asbestos remover, through mutual friends.<\/p>\n She said: ‘We fell in love and when I revealed that I was unlikely to have children, Tom was understanding.<\/p>\n ‘When I was 18, we started trying for a baby, but I never fell pregnant.<\/p>\n ‘Every month when I got my period, I was devastated. And the thought of never having children made me feel depressed.<\/p>\n ‘We even decided to have IVF if I didn’t conceive by the time I was 25.’<\/p>\n Ms Conarty, pictured during pregnancy, said her PCOS caused her weight to fluctuate, and doctors told her her fallopian tubes were ‘covered in cysts’\u00a0<\/p>\n Ms Contary was shocked to find out her baby had albinism as it is a genetic condition\u00a0<\/p>\n Ava is more sensitive to sunlight and she is partially-sighted – although it is not known to what extent this will affect her until she is older, her mother said\u00a0<\/p>\n But surprisingly, three years on in January 2018, Ms Conarty discovered she was pregnant.<\/p>\n She said: ‘Tom and I were delighted. My pregnancy went without a hitch, but I had extra scans to monitor me.\u00a0<\/p>\n ‘When she [Ava] was born, I noticed she had red eyes and white hair, but thought nothing of it.’<\/p>\n At two weeks old, Ava’s health visitor was concerned about the colour of her eyes.<\/p>\n But Ava was to be diagnosed with albinism, which affects the production of melanin, the pigment that colours skin, hair and eyes, a month later.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n The condition can also affect eyesight as melanin is involved with the development of the retina, the thin layer of cells at the back of the eye.<\/p>\n Albinism can affect people of all races and is genetic.\u00a0<\/p>\n Ms Conarty said:\u00a0‘We didn’t believe it. Doctors told us it was very rare, as children get it from their parents.<\/p>\n ‘Me and Tom are undergoing genetic testing to see which of us carries the gene.<\/p>\n ‘Ava will always have white hair and red eyes. Her albinism makes her more sensitive to sunlight and she is partially-sighted, but we won’t know the full extent of this until she’s older.’<\/p>\n But her unusual eye colour draws in strangers.<\/p>\n Ms Conarty said: ‘Every time we leave the house, people comment how beautiful she is.\u00a0 But despite the admiring remarks, I do worry about her when she gets older.<\/p>\n ‘Due to her sight problems, she’ll be unable to drive and I worry about her being bullied at school.<\/p>\n ‘But me and Tom will raise her to love herself as she is. After all, she’s our little miracle!’<\/p>\n Albinism affects the production of melanin, the pigment that colours skin, hair and eyes. It’s a lifelong condition, but it doesn’t get worse over time.<\/p>\n According to the World Health Organization, estimates vary from one in 5,000 to one in 15,000 people in Sub-Saharan Africa.\u00a0<\/p>\n In Europe and North America, one in 20,000 people have the condition, according to the NGO Under the Same Sun.<\/p>\n It is a rare, non-contagious, genetically inherited condition which occurs worldwide regardless of ethnicity or gender.<\/p>\n People with albinism have a reduced amount of melanin, or no melanin at all. This can affect their colouring and their eyesight.<\/p>\n The reduced amount of melanin can also cause a long list of other eye problems.\u00a0<\/p>\n This is because melanin is involved in the development of the retina, the thin layer of cells at the back of the eye.<\/p>\n Some young children with albinism may appear clumsy because problems with their eyesight can make it difficult for them to perform certain movements, such as picking up an object.<\/p>\n The two main types of albinism are oculocutaneous albinism (OCA) \u2013 the most common type, affecting the skin, hair and eyes ocular albinism (OA) \u2013 a rarer type that mainly affects the eyes.<\/p>\n Albinism is caused by faulty genes that a child inherits from their parents.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Source:<\/span> NHS<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A woman who was told she was infertile by doctors has given birth to a miracle albino baby. Shannon Conarty, 22, of Harrogate, North Yorkshire, was given a ten per cent chance of conceiving naturally after she was diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). The condition affects around ten per cent of women, and left Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-233926","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233926","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=233926"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233926\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=233926"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=233926"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=233926"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}WHAT ARE THE RISK FACTORS FOR POLYCYSTIC OVARIAN SYNDROME?<\/h3>\n
![\"Ms](\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2019\/01\/10\/12\/8355418-6577247-image-a-73_1547122098637.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n![\"Ms](\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2019\/01\/10\/12\/8355414-6577247-image-a-75_1547122134478.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n![\"Ava](\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2019\/01\/10\/12\/8355416-6577247-image-a-76_1547122137869.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\nWHAT IS ALBINISM?\u00a0<\/h3>\n