The mother of a 6-year-old girl has shared the story of learning her daughter was born blind, and how far they have come together as a family.

Skin specialist Hayley Steinbach, 30, lives in Essex in the U.K. with her builder husband, Zak, 31, and their three children, including daughter Elsie. She was diagnosed with optic nerve hypoplasia as a baby—but getting that initial diagnosis was far from easy.

"The moment I realized Elsie, at 4 months old, wasn't tracking anything properly, I was so confused and concerned," Steinbach told Newsweek . "Our doctor had told me eight times that Elsie's eyes were OK, and it was just a blocked tear duct."

Elsie is the couple's first child, and so the new parents were "unaware of how delayed her vision was—we thought it was normal eye behavior for a

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