Estimated read time: Less than a minute
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
ST. GEORGE — A St. George baby beats the odds by surviving a rare condition, becoming the only boy living in Utah without kidneys.
Kristen and Kasey Shakespear are the parents of Isaac, who was born with a rare condition called bilateral renal agenesis (BRA), meaning his kidneys did not form in the womb.
Without intervention, BRA is considered a "double-lethal" condition, Kasey Shakespear said. Kidneys help the fetus produce amniotic fluid, and without it, the lungs cannot develop properly. In the cases where the lungs can develop, the baby requires dialysis to survive.
When Kristen Shakespear learned that her pregnancy would have complications, she immediately began to research her options.