Girl Born With No Lips Disowned By Family Members (Photos)

A 3-year-old girl in Russia has been shunned by most of her family after she was born with a rare condition that left her without lips or a chin.

Elena Sphengler, 46, says that her 3-year-old daughter Darina was disowned by most of her family because they are ashamed of the way she looks. The prejudice against Darina has been so severe that Elena and her husband Yury have now moved away from their village in Siberia to avoid family members and former friends who shunned their daughter.

“She does not have lips,” the mother told The Siberian Times. “Her mouth is constantly open and all the time in blood.”

She says the only relative that still supports her is her sister.

“My brothers, their children, the mother of my husband — nobody wanted to accept Darina. They just did not notice her since she was born. But we do not hide Darina from people. We take her everywhere with us. Can you imagine, we go into the shop, see our own relatives, and they immediately go out, asking their children not to look at us?”

Now, Elena has given up her job to care for her daughter full time as she undergoes a long and complex treatment to rebuild her face.

The parents say family members have gone as far as telling authorities they damaged Darina’s mouth themselves, according to the Mirror.

“I got a call from the police,” Elena said. “They demanded explanations. Our surgeons were shocked to hear all this. Of course, it will be sorted very soon but we are so nervous. And we need all our powers to help Darina. We need to raise and support her, she has a lot to overcome.”

Darina’s surgeon, Orest Topolnitsky, has condemned the heartbreaking way family members have treated the young girl.

“The girl is now in our hospital,” the surgeon said. “It is a very rare case. Many charity funds refused to help saying that she would die soon anyway. We took a risk and operated her as a part of the free government insurance. But the girl needs more surgeries. We have done the first and the most difficult one.”

Topolnitsky continued, “It was risky because the child is very small, any bleeding is a threat for her. We know that this family has problems with relatives who have not loved this girl from the very beginning. Some people have no hearts, it is so shocking.”

Elena recalls that immediately after Darina was born two months prematurely, she fainted because she was so shocked.

“I soon realized that something was wrong,” she said. “The doctors were worried and started calling somewhere. The baby was wrapped and I did not see her properly. A bit later I begged them to show me my daughter. The nurse looked at me and asked, ‘Are you ready to see it? She is in an incubator.'”

The mother continued, “I went close and looked — and saw this wide open mouth. I fell into darkness — and lost consciousness. I was taken to intensive care where the doctors suggested I leave the baby in the hospital. But I strongly refused.”

When Yury first saw Darina, he was not bothered by her condition and fell in love with her right away.

“His face did not change when he saw Darina, he said to me, ‘She is ours, our girl.'”

The couple says the circumstances have only brought them closer together, but that it is hard to see how things have unfolded because of their daughter’s condition and that they wish they could do more to help.

“We did not want such a war with relatives. Only our adult children and their families support us and love Darina,” Elena said. “They confessed that at first it was hard to look at her but now they got used to it and support us. My husband Yury does not feel ashamed either. He takes Darina everywhere. People told us to put a mask on her but he replied: ‘If you don’t want, don’t look at her, but we accept her the way she is.'” 

Darina is currently recovering from her first major surgery, which was a success. The surgery involved doctors sewing her mouth to make it smaller. Future surgeries will focus on rebuilding her lips as well as muscles and bone in her chin.

Sources: The Siberian Times, Mirror / Photo credit: Pixabay, Victor Guseinov/Siberian Times