EJ's Story

On July 26, 2017, our family received challenging news that our unborn baby had a mass on his umbilical cord. On August 2,2017, our baby boy Ervin Lockhart-Facen Jr. (EJ) was born with his bladder outside of his abdominal wall. This condition is called, Bladder Exstrophy. Bladder Exstrophy is a rare condition that happens in one out of every 50,000 child births. Unfortunately, there is no known cause of the rare condition. EJ will undergo two surgeries over the next few years to repair his bladder. He may additionally need a third surgery as an adult. The first operation will take place when he is eight weeks old. The goal of the surgeries is to optimize urinary control, to preserve normal renal function, and to optimize the appearance and function of the external genitalia. If needed, the surgery as an adult will be to correct reproductive functionality.