what exactly is the condition? like whats it called?

I'm really sorry that happened to the baby. However, a "disability" is often only a disability if you make it so. Make sure you friend is in contact with a really top class hospital that deals with this problem. Make sure there aren't other issues connected with the missing eye. Sometimes genetic disorders are expressed in several different ways. My daughter has neurofibromatosis, type 1. Most kids with NF1 get benign tumors in the skin, freckling in areas that don't see sun (armpits, groin) and Lisch nodules in the eye, none of which are life threatening. But the disease can also cause tumors in bones that cut off their growth and twist their bodies, brain tumors, heart tumors and aneurysms. So they have to be watched for all those possibilities. My daughter has had a brain tumor, and aneurysm, a stroke, brain surgery (to block the aneurysm) and 15 months of chemo to save her eyesight. So the first line of business is to find out what caused him to be born with one eye and what other issues he might have. Once you make sure he doesn't have anything else life threatening, then the focus shifts to making sure he can function normally with one eye. Trust me, every kid has some kind of disability. For some, it is something physical you can see, for others the disability is family, upbringing, fear of taking on challenges, lack of confidence. Your friends child can have quite a normal life with only one eye. One of my daughter's friends (who had chemo with her) is facing life with little sight, diabetes, growth problems, behavior problems (the tumor pressed on his pituitary) and a possible return of his cancer, but he is a plucky kid and he faces the world on his own terms.

Hi Graham, I did email my friend last night. Here is the reply I got this morning. Basically, it's illegal for the parents to abandon the child. The way its generally happened, the birth father's family (usually) will sneak the child out to a place where authorities will find the baby, but would not know who the birthparents are (they would face dire punishment if discovered). When the baby is found, it gets taken to the local orphanage. Attempts (half - hearted) are generally made to identify the birth parents. China does not allow private adoptions. The child must be part of a government - run orphanage to qualify for adoption. Then, that orphanage must be approved and qualified (by both the Chinese gov. and a US adoption program / agency) for participation in the international adoption program. If the child is in an accepted orphanage, he is either selected by the orphanage for their adoption program (usually only the "best", meaning healthiest kids are selected, but that includes special needs kids; meaning that they are otherwise in good shape aside from that specific special need) . Sometimes, if the US adoption agency has an established relationship with the orphanage, a child can be "pre-identified" for adoption . This sometimes happens when people do service or missionary work at the orphanage, and "fall in love" with a child. It takes a lot of tenacity, often YEARS of it, but sometimes the family can adopt the pre-identified child. That's about all I know. The whole situation is kept well--hidden, normally. The system is as corrupt as they come. Wish we could take him. What province is he in? I tried to get her on here to talk to you directly, but she is homeschooling three of the girls and she has already started school, so she just didn't have time.

trust the advice of your friend's doctor(s)...

I don't see what you - or we - could do beyond what the pediatrician can do. WHy not just love the child and be done with it?

If you want to adopt the child, do all you can to make it happen. If the Chinese government gives you a hard time, turn this into something public. People will give you moral support. It will be difficult for a child with one eye to grow up in China. People in China are so obsessed with appearances the child will have a hard time growing up there. If his parents don't seem to accept him then he may feel like an orphan. Perhaps the child will be better of with you.