When Suraya Brown was born 14 months ago she was extremely small -- the four weeks premature baby weight just over two and a half pounds -- but doctors didn't anticipate how unusual her case truly was until months later, when her growth stalled completely. Today, according to ABC news, the British toddler is about the size of the average newborn at around seven pounds, and the medical professionals are baffled as to what is causing her small size and delayed development. Tests for various forms of dwarfism and other genetic differences have come back negative, leaving her mother, Atlanta Ruzman, wondering when, if ever, she will get answers about her daughter's condition -- and her future. For now, she says the toddler is a "cheeky monkey" who is happy and alert.
Perhaps clues to Suraya's condition can be found in the case of Brooke Greenberg, a Maryland teenager who was profiled in 1995 as part of a "medical mystery" series on another network (NBC's Dateline) when she was 12 years old but "frozen" at the size and developmental stage of a six-month-old baby.
Both these cases are fascinating, not least because they tap into something most parents say at one point or another during their baby's first year -- oh, I wish she could stay this small forever! -- it's something we say but of course do not really mean. The idea of a child who does not, cannot, grow and grow up, is so strange and sad it can seem like the stuff of fiction. In the real world, it's just another reminder of how lucky you should consider yourself if you have a child who is healthy and thriving.
More By This Author:
They Say: More Abuse, Neglect Among Bottle-Feeding Moms
Does Obama's Election Mean Black Kids Now Have "No Excuses"?
Man Kills Family, Self, After Layoffs
Biracial Twins -- Is One "Black" and One "White"?
