Born With Eight Fingers on One Hand and No Thumb, Baby Owyn Underwent Rare Surgery at Just 14 Months Old

When Matt and Tiffany welcomed their daughter Owyn, everything initially appeared normal.

But as a nurse placed the newborn on a cold scale to weigh her, something unexpected happened.

Owyn opened her tiny left hand, revealing eight fingers instead of five. She had four additional fingers but no thumb.

For her parents, who already had three children, it was a completely unexpected discovery. They had never encountered anything like it before.

A Rare Diagnosis Called Mirror Hand

Finding an explanation for Owyn’s unusual hand took time.

Eventually, the family was referred to Shriners Children’s St. Louis, where pediatric hand surgeon Dr. Charles Goldfarb diagnosed her with ulnar dimelia, also known as mirror hand.

This extremely rare congenital condition causes duplicated structures on the little-finger side of the hand and can result in the absence of a thumb.

It may also affect the wrist, forearm and elbow.

For Owyn, the central challenge was not simply the number of fingers she had. Without a functional thumb, grasping objects would be more difficult.

Doctors Had to Make a Difficult Decision

Owyn’s parents initially hoped surgery might give their daughter a hand with four fingers and a thumb.

However, Dr. Goldfarb explained that the most important goal was improving function rather than creating a conventional appearance.

Her hand required a carefully planned reconstruction.

The surgical team recommended removing some of the duplicated fingers and repositioning another finger to create a functional thumb.

Major Hand Surgery at Just 14 Months Old

When Owyn was 14 months old, she underwent surgery involving removal of additional digits and a procedure called pollicization.

During pollicization, a surgeon moves an existing finger into the thumb position to improve a child’s ability to grasp and hold objects.

Following the operation, Owyn had three fingers and a newly reconstructed thumb on her left hand.

Her parents noticed improvements remarkably quickly.

Within three weeks, they could already see her using the operated hand more effectively, even while it was still protected by a bulky cast.

A Second Operation and a New Chapter

When Owyn was two years old, she underwent another procedure to straighten her wrist.

Her condition also affected the movement of her elbow, but her parents decided to leave the possibility of further surgery open for Owyn to consider when she was older.

As she grew, she developed her own sense of humor about her hand, sometimes affectionately calling it her dinosaur claw.

Her family also began connecting with other parents around the world whose children had the same rare diagnosis.

From a Baby With Eight Fingers to a Confident Young Girl

When Shriners Children’s published Owyn’s story in April 2023, she was finishing fifth grade.

She enjoyed acrobatics, basketball and soccer, and had participated in a local high school production of The Wizard of Oz.

She also became a patient ambassador for Shriners Children’s St. Louis, helping other children and families feel more confident about their differences.

Her parents continued supporting families affected by ulnar dimelia, including welcoming some into their home and accompanying others to medical appointments.

What began as an unexpected discovery on a newborn weighing scale had grown into a story of reconstructive surgery, adaptation and a community of families supporting one another.

Source: Shriners Children’s St. Louis, April 4, 2023 — Owyn Is One in a Million.