Claire’s very special playdate

When Claire was four months old, she was diagnosed with an extremely rare genetic eye condition called sporadic aniridia. Basically what it means is that she was born without irises (the colored part of the eye). Her eyes are black with all pupil. The gene on the 11th chromosome that forms the iris skipped sporadically (meaning that Brant and I didn’t pass it on to her) when she was developing in utero. I was relieved to learn that it happened sporadically and that it wasn’t anything I ate, or didn’t eat that may have caused it. (Mom guilt at it’s finest) Her eyes are really healthy, and she has good vision she just has extreme light sensitivity, since the iris controls how much light enters the eye, and she doesn’t have any. (Hence the adorable sunglasses all the time). Other complications can arise with the condition, but so far we have been extremely lucky to have such a happy healthy little girl.

Before Claire was born, I had never heard of the condition, or even knew that it existed. Thanks to awesome sites like facebook, I was able to come in contact with other individuals with aniridia, and other mothers of children with aniridia. To my surprise, I found a mother of a little girl (only a year older than Claire) with aniridia locally! We decided to meet up and have a play date. It was an absolute joy meeting Sophie and her mother Meggin. It was so nice to sit and talk with another mom who can relate with similar experiences and feelings as I have had, and to compare notes with our kids.  The condition is so rare so the support from another is so much appreciated. We both joked that we might burst into tears when we met each other and each other’s girls. Sophie and Claire had a blast playing, and we are grateful for the new friends.

Meggin and I just about died of cuteness watching these little girls play with their little sunglasses.

As odd as it sounds, it was fun to meet someone else with eyes just as black as Claire’s. I love these girls! They are so adorable! They had fun playing “monsters” and “making cakes” on the playground.