Here are some personal stories of children with cataract and adults who had cataract when they were children.

The first story is one that was published in The Independent on 16th March 2010.

Charlie’s Story (child, bilateral congenital cataract)

The rest of our personal stories are about our members and their children. Please note that names have been changed to protect people’s privacy. Please note also that these personal stories have not been checked by medical professionals and should not be treated as sources of medical information

  • Anne’s Story
    (adult, bilateral cataract) My name is Anne I have just turned 30 years old and this is my story. I was born, well I think I was anyway, with bilateral cataracts which were inherited from my mum who also had them as a baby. They were diagnosed when I was about 4 months old and removed when ...
  • Dan’s Story
     (child, unilateral cataract and glaucoma) Firstly before I tell you more about myself and my family and experience – I just want to say that if it wasn’t for the who set up and run support groups such as this….I don’t know how I would have become as strong, confident and accepting of my son’s condition ...
  • Ellie’s Story
    (child, unilateral cataract) Ellie was born in November 2006. When she was 2 months old her father spotted a cloudy white patch in her pupil. It was not central and was only visible at certain angles in certain lights, and it was only in one eye. We looked on the internet. We vaguely knew what cataracts were, ...
  • Freddie’s Story
    (adult, unilateral cataract) I was born with a cataract in my left eye, I think its proper name is a congenital cataract. I remember being carted around London with my parents to loads of ophthalmologists when I was about 4 years old. There were millions of tests, which included pictures of animals, I remember the zebra. ...
  • Ian’s Story
    (child, unilateral cataract) Ian was born with a unilateral cataract in his left eye, which was spotted at birth and removed at three weeks old. He now wears a soft lens in this eye every day where possible. His cataract was very severe and was caused by a birth defect, therefore making the eye under developed which, ...
  • Jake’s Story
    (child, bilateral cataracts)   My son Jake is 4 years old, he has bilateral congenital cataracts – which means the cataracts are in both eyes and were there from birth. They were inherited from his father. Jake’s cataracts are found Jake’s cataracts were discovered quite late; he was checked for them when he was a newborn baby due to ...
  • Josie’s Story
    (adult, bilateral cataracts) Congenital Cataract runs in our family, my uncle had it, (although neither mum nor her other brother did) and so did his grandmother and all of her siblings. My great grandmother and most of her siblings went blind from cataracts as the operation wasn’t available, but my uncle had the operation in his ...
  • Katie’s Story
    (child, bilateral cataracts and Down’s syndrome) I was 34 years old when I became pregnant for the first time. It was a planned pregnancy and my husband and I were delighted. I did not take any tests for Down’s Syndrome as I would not wish to terminate the pregnancy if I was aware of it. However, ...
  • Mia’s Story
    (child, unilateral cataract) Hi there Mums, Dads and friends… I had my beautiful daughter Mia in 2006 and unfortunately she was born with a unilateral cataract. I am not great with the terminology of the lens name but think it might be called an intraocular lens? Anyway I don’t know about any of you but this was ...
  • Rachel’s Story
    (child, bilateral cataract) My daughter Rachel was born in 2006. I have a family history of congenital cataracts, so her eyes were examined on the post-natal ward soon after she was born. As cataracts were present she was immediately referred to a Paediatric Ophthalmic consultant and both cataracts were removed when she was two weeks old. Getting ...
  • Robert’s Story
    I was born with cataracts in both eyes in the early 1940s; my father and three other relatives also were born with cataract. However it hasn’t held me back very much: I’m married and have two grown-up children (and they didn’t have cataract), and I’ve had a successful career in science and computing; I’m now ...