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A mother whose daughter was born looking like “a doll” with wide open eyes due to facial paralysis can “sense” her daughter’s happiness even though she cannot smile.
Victoria LaBrie, 30, a special educational needs assistant from Minnesota, US, first noticed something unique about her daughter Hazel during pregnancy – her eyes appeared to be open during 3D ultrasound scans, which she thought was “very cute”.
But when Hazel was born in December 2024 with her eyes “wide open like a little owl”, Victoria and her partner, Bobby, 37, who is Hazel’s father, “immediately” sensed something was not right”.
Just two weeks later, Hazel was diagnosed with Moebius syndrome – an extremely rare and incurable neurological disorder that causes complete facial paralysis and an inability to blink.
Since then, she has learnt to read Hazel’s emotions through eye contact and subtle cues, while a TikTok post raising awareness of the condition went viral, gaining more than 24 million views.
Victoria also co-parents children from her previous marriage with her ex-husband Tony, including twins Harley and Harper, six, Colton, four, and their adopted daughter, Veronica, 14 – all of whom have a disability.
Victoria, who has to manually close Hazel’s eyes to give them a rest, told PA Real Life: “Hazel has the most perfect facial features and it’s crazy, because she was diagnosed with some asymmetry in her face, but you would not be able to tell.
“She’s just got this beautiful fair skin and these great big eyeballs, and she just looks like a little doll.
“No-one has mistaken her for a doll yet but people always say she looks like one.
“I can read her emotions looking at her eyes and the way she moves – I can sense her happiness.
“She should be able to talk in the future and she’s making some noises now.”
When Victoria was pregnant with Hazel, 3D ultrasound scans showed her baby’s eyes were open – at the time, Victoria thought this was “very cute” and “ultrasound technicians agreed”.
When Hazel was born in December 2024, her eyes were wide open and Victoria and Bobby sensed that something was not right.
Within two weeks, after undergoing MRI brain scans, Hazel was diagnosed with Moebius syndrome.
According to Facial Palsy UK, it is an extremely rare neurological disorder which is present at birth and is characterised by weakening or paralysis of the muscles in the face which control expression and lateral eye movements.
The condition affects between two and 20 babies per million births, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
Hazel has some mobility in the lower left side of her lip, but the rest of her face is completely paralysed – she is unable to blink and can move her eyes up and down, but not side to side.
“Getting the diagnosis was devastating at first, thinking she won’t really be able to smile,” Victoria recalled.
“I hadn’t heard of it before so I felt kind of lost but once I processed it I knew I had to do everything I can to make Hazel’s life the best it can be.”
Victoria has to manually close Hazel’s eyes to rest them and apply eye ointment every one to two hours each day to improve lubrication and prevent corneal damage.
She added: “She’s actually the best sleeper out of all my kids, she sleeps great.
“If I try to close her eyes for her when she’s sleeping they’ll open by themselves after a few seconds.”
Victoria sometimes finds it difficult as babies typically connect with others through their smiles and facial expressions, but she has learnt to read her emotions through her eyes and the way she moves.
“She is a really pleasant baby to have around and she screams, just without moving her mouth,” Victoria explained.
“When she locks eyes with someone, she will just sit and stare at you.
“It seems like she might be starting to giggle a little bit, and it’s hard to tell, obviously, because she can’t show that on her face.
“You can just tell that she is comfortable and she’s happy.
“Some of my other children are autistic so they struggle with communicating their emotions so I’m kind of used to it.”
Victoria said she has not set expectations for the future in terms of Hazel’s ability to express emotions.
“With disabled kids you plan to keep them happy right now and so I don’t want to say that I’m worried about her future – I know that if anything gets thrown towards us, we’re just going to take one day at a time,” she added.
To raise awareness of Hazel’s condition, Victoria posted on TikTok under the handle @torlab, sharing images and a brief description of her story.
The post has since received more than 24 million views.
“I didn’t think I was sharing with millions of people, I thought I was sharing with a very small facial paralysis community,” Victoria said.
“So for it to blow up like that, I was like, holy smokes – I didn’t think I would go viral off of my baby not being able to blink but I’m glad I can raise awareness.”
In addition to Hazel, Victoria’s twin daughters and her son have autism, and Veronica has ADHD.
She has joint custody over these children with Tony, her ex-husband, who is the biological father of the twins and Colton, and said he is an “incredibly supportive” co-parent.
She explained: “When I got the first autism diagnosis, it hit me extremely hard. I had my moment of sadness, and then I picked right up and said, ‘What can I do for my kids?’
“And then immediately started looking for therapies and things that would get them on the right track.”
Victoria and her children currently live in the house she purchased with Tony, but she is looking for a new home that can suit her children’s needs better.
She said: “The market is crazy at the moment and my kids have a lot more needs than just finding a house – we have to stay away from water, have to be fenced in, watch out for busy streets.
“We’d love a sensory room too with lights and bubbles and crash pads all in one room – they don’t all take interest in toys or traditional learning materials.”
Victoria’s mother launched a fundraiser to help cover the costs of a new home and renovations.
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