Eli Thompson was born with no nose due to a rare malformation known to affect just 1 in 197 million babies. Despite the noticeably absent facial feature, his mother says he’s doing just fine.

Meet 4-week-old Eli.

Sharon Steinmann / AP

Eli was born March 4 in Alabama, but it wasn't until doctors handed him to his mother, Brandi McGlathery, that she realized he had no nose.

Eli, who immediately started breathing normally through his mouth, McGlathery told the Mobile Press-Register , was taken to USA Children's and Women's Hospital in Mobile, Alabama, after his condition was discovered.

Eli was 5 days old when doctors performed a tracheotomy to assist with his breathing, and since then "he's been a much happier baby," McGlathery told the paper.

Because of the procedure, however, Eli doesn't make a noise when he cries and his mother must keep a constant eye on him.

Known as congenital arhinia, the malformation is extremely rare.

Sharon Steinmann / AP

According to a 2014 article published by the U.S. National Library of Medicine on a similar case, at the time, there had been only 43 recorded cases of congenital arhinia since the first was reported in 1931.

It can potentially be life-threatening by causing breathing and feeding problems, but there are known cases of babies making it well into adulthood.

The chances of being born with the malformation, his mother said, is 1 in 197 million.

View Entire List ›