Parents In India Abandon Newborn Daughter With 'Wrinkly Skin' Condition

In India, parents of a newborn girl with a rare “wrinkly skin” disorder abandoned her soon after learning about her medical condition. The two-week-old baby was born prematurely, in the seventh month of her mother's pregnancy.

The girl, who has not been named yet, weighed less than 2 pounds at the time of birth. The parents, identified as Ajay and Mamata Dode, expected the little child to look like her 3-year-old sibling. However, they found that she was terribly skinny and had wrinkly skin. The little girl is currently in the care of her 50-year-old grandfather, Dilip Dode.

Doctors at Wadia Hospital in Mumbai believe the baby suffers from Intrauterine Growth Retardation (IUGR), which, along with a chromosomal abnormality, resulted in poor growth of the fetus during pregnancy. The doctors are currently performing karyotyping to determine the baby's genetic makeup. This will help them identify specific genetic problems before starting treatment.

"When the baby was given to us, we were left shocked," Dilip Dode said, as the Mirror reported. "She did not have the usual features, and the word soon spread in the village. From our relatives to villagers, everyone gathered at our home to have a look at the baby.” The grandfather further revealed that people from the village refused to hold the baby in their hands, suspecting they might catch a communicable disease. Out of embarrassment, the parents refused to accept the infant as their offspring.

The girl is currently recovering from dehydration at the hospital, thanks to her grandfather. The Huffington Post reports that Dilip Dode is thankful to hospital authorities for providing free medical care for the baby and seem to go to any extent to save the infant's life.