10 Unusual Birth Defects

Here are 10 unusual birth defects.

Human gestation is highly complex and in the 9 months of development many abnormalities can occur. Some are much less common than others.

Here are 10 unusual birth defects.

Number 10. Mermaid Syndrome. It may have a storybook name, but the condition, which causes the legs to be fused together, rarely has a fairy tale ending. Most often the affected newborn dies as kidneys and other vital organs don’t form properly either.

Number 9. Treacher Collins. This genetic disorder presents as a significant lack of facial bone structure. Those born with the syndrome are often, albeit insensitively, described as not having a face. Communication and food consumption can be greatly impacted as a result of the missing bone mass.

Number 8. Harlequin Ichthyosis. Babies born with this have patches of thick skin that has difficulties sealing, making them prone to infection. Medication and frequent bathing help with discomfort and boost the skin’s ability to grow and shed. It’s estimated there are about 100 cases existing in the world today.

Number 7. Congenital arhinia. The name refers to being born without a nose, and 1 in 100 million babies are affected with the facial anomaly. Fewer that 50 cases have been recorded in modern medical texts.

Number 6. Ambras Syndrome. The genetic condition, which causes thick patches hair to grow over the entire face and body, has only been documented about 50 times since the Middle Ages. The only danger it presents is the inevitable cruelty of others.

Number 5. Epidermolysis bullosa. Within this range of skin disorders is a particular variety in which babies are born without skin. The only known treatment is to keep the exposed areas covered as a means of staving off infections.

Number 4. Ectopia cordis. The defect, which is marked by the heart developing outside of the body, can sometimes occur when the chest cavity is too small to accommodate it. Thankfully, surgeons have had some success with creating the needed space and housing the entirety of the heart inside.

Number 3. Brittle Bone Disease. Baby bones are fragile as it is, but newborns suffering from this disorder sustain fractures much more easily. It occurs in 3 in 50 thousand births and only among those with a family history of the problem.

Number 2. Progeria. Causing rapid aging, the syndrome leads to the early develop of conditions associated with advanced years, such as osteoporosis. Sam Berns, the progeria sufferer who was featured in an HBO documentary about the disease, only lived to be 17 years old.

Number 1. Fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva. This defect causes the muscle and tendon tissue to calcify and harden to a bone-like consistency. Its onset is slow, but often causes significant disability by the adult years. 1 of every 2 million people is born with it.

Which do you think is the most unusual?