MOBILE, Ala. (AP) — Before Eli Thompson was born, his father joked that he hoped he wouldn't pass on his nose to his new son.
But moments after Eli's birth, an air of seriousness — and concern — filled the room.
Mother Brandi McGlathery tells Al.com she knew immediately that something wasn't right.
She shouted, "He doesn't have a nose!"
McGlathery says Eli began breathing through his mouth right away March 4 at a Mobile, Alabama, hospital.
McGlathery says her son was born with a rare condition known as complete congenital arhinia.
She says she and Eli's father, Troy Thompson, "think he's perfect the way he is."
The University of South Alabama Children's & Women's Hospital said in a statement on its Facebook account that the condition affects fewer than 40 other people around the world.
