A North Texas baby got a liver transplant before he was even a month old, after doctors found a donor organ small enough to fit his body.
Maximo Solano, now 5 months old, was born with Gestational Alloimmune Liver Disease, or GALD, a rare disorder in which the mother’s immune system attacks the baby’s liver during pregnancy. The disease is typically fatal without intervention.
His parents, Michael and Melissa Solano of Lewisville, call him their miracle child.
“You wouldn’t believe it, man,” Michael Solano said, recalling the frightening hours surrounding his son’s birth. “It was very, very scary.”
The ordeal began when Melissa Solano underwent an emergency C-section delivery late last year in Plano. After the birth, Maximo, who had not yet been named, was rushed to the neonatal intensive care unit with breathing complications and signs of severe liver failure.
At the same time, Melissa Solano experienced life-threatening blood loss during surgery.
“She had lost enough blood to die,” Michael Solano said.
As doctors worked to save both mother and child, he said he felt helpless.
“I was lost,” he said. “The only thing I could start doing was praying.”
Melissa Solano survived the complications, but Maximo’s condition remained uncertain. She said she feared they both might die.
“I do remember thinking this might be it,” Melissa Solano said. “And for some reason I thought he and I were going to go together. But I felt at peace with that.”
The Solanos said specialists they consulted in North Texas considered Maximo too small for a liver transplant. He was transferred to Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston on Nov. 7, 2025, where specialists worked to stabilize his failing organs.
He underwent multiple plasma exchanges and required dialysis, blood products and respiratory support while doctors evaluated whether he could survive a transplant.
“It’s an unusual disease that someone gets, and then it’s also unusual to have patients be stable enough that you can take care of them and transplant them,” said Dr. John Goss, medical director of transplant services at Texas Children’s.
Goss said only about 40 patients in the United States have ever received transplants for GALD. This year, Texas Children’s treated two such cases, including Maximo’s.
Doctors placed Maximo on the transplant list on Nov. 20. Eight days later, on Thanksgiving Day, the family learned a donor liver had become available from another infant.
On Nov. 28, Maximo’s one-month birthday, surgeons performed the liver transplant using an organ from an 8-month-old donor.
“Especially as a brand-new mom, that’s really, really hard to hear because you know that means there is tragedy on the other end,” Melissa Solano said. “I couldn’t pray for tragedy for someone else. So I just kept praying that God would save our baby and find a way. And he did.”
The surgery showed immediate results. Maximo gradually learned to breathe on his own and recovered despite challenges related to the size of the donor organ, including a partially closed incision during healing because the donated organ was initially bigger than his one-month-old body could hold.
About a month later, he was discharged from the hospital and returned home to North Texas with his family.
Michael Solano said the family named him partly after the movie “Gladiator,” whose lead character is Maximus. “Max” also appeared during Maximo’s hospital stay as the brand name on protective eye gear used during bilirubin therapy.
“He was like, ‘It’s a sign,'” Melissa said.
The Solanos said they hope to one day meet the donor family whose decision made their son’s survival possible.
“We thank God for the donor and their family every single day,” Melissa Solano said.
The family now advocates for organ and blood donation.
“Organ donation saves lives,” Melissa said. “And we’re just so thankful every day.”
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