Hi we are Caitlin and Declan the proud parents of baby Hazel!

Hazel is our beautiful baby girl who was born on the 5th of June 2023! She has a big sister Olive, and many cousins who adore her. She was initially screened a couple of weeks after birth and it was found that she was profoundly deaf in both ears. After lots of other investigations she has been diagnosed with Congenital Cytomegalovirus (cCMV). This is an incredibly common virus in the community, however if the mum contracts it while pregnant and it passes through to the baby it has devastating effects on bubs.

This virus has significantly affected Hazel’s brain. As she is only 11 weeks old, her journey is still unknown and will unfold as she grows. What we do know from the MRI on her brain is that she will have both significant physical and developmental delays.

We as her parents want to do everything for our little girl to reach her fullest potential, whatever this may be for her.

We have already seen an absolute enormous amount of specialists and health practitioners (multiple pediatricians, child health nurses, audiologists, ophthalmologists, speech therapists, OT, Chiropractors, lactation consultants, hearing Australia and infectious diseases) and we know that this won’t slow any time soon. We are incredibly privileged here in Australia for amazing medical services. However, this has had a massive impact on our family and with weekly visits to the children’s hospital in Brisbane and other allied health appointments we would love to ask for any donations to support her and us along this journey.

She is an absolute beautiful girl who already has a pair of hearing aids to allow her some access to sounds. Hopefully she will eventually get cochlear implants as well to help aid her in learning to speak. We are excited to continue hospital based appointments and allied health appointments to give her the best opportunities. My goodness she has a fantastic team around her and family who love her to bits.

As devastating as it has been to have received this diagnoses and the fear of the unknowns, we are both going to do everything within our powers to give Hazel the best possible treatments and your support will be extremely appreciated. All donations will go into a bank account specifically for our Hazel and her overall development. We will keep everyone up to date with her progress and the journey of our family

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts,

Caitlin, Declan, Olive and baby Hazel