At 20 weeks pregnant my world turned upside down. We got the news from our doctors that Paisley had a rare lethal form of dwarfism called Thanatophoric Dysplasia. Thanatophoric Dysplasia or TD for short is a severe skeletal disorder characterized by a disproportionately small ribcage, extremely short limbs and folds of extra skin on the arms and legs. The term Thanatophoric is greek for "death bearing". Children with this condition are usually stillborn or die shortly after birth from respiratory failure, however a small number of individuals have survived into childhood and a very few beyond. Survivors have difficulty breathing on their own and require respiratory support such as high flow oxygen through a cannula or ventilator support via tracheotomy.
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