Only about 40 patients in the United States have ever received transplants for the rare liver disease that 5-month-old Maximo Solano had.
LEWISVILLE, Texas — When Maximo Solano was only 5 months old, he had already experienced what most people experience in their lives. The Louisville baby was born with a rare and often fatal liver disease, and doctors at Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston found a donor organ small enough to save his life, and he received a liver transplant just 31 days after he was born.
His parents, Michael and Melissa Solano, now call him their miracle child.
“You’re not going to believe it, man,” Michael Solano said, recalling the horrific moments when his son was born. “It’s very, very scary.”
The ordeal began when Melissa Solano underwent an emergency C-section in Plano late last year. After birth, Maximo, who has not yet been named, was rushed to the neonatal intensive care unit with respiratory complications and signs of severe liver failure. Meanwhile, Melissa experienced life-threatening blood loss during surgery.
“She bled to death,” Michael Solano said.
As doctors worked to save the mother and child, Michael said he felt helpless.
“I’m lost,” he said. “The only thing I could start doing was praying.”
Melissa survived the complications, but Maximo’s condition remains uncertain. Doctors later diagnosed him with gestational alloimmune liver disease (GALD), a rare disease in which the mother’s immune system attacks the baby’s liver during pregnancy. Without intervention, the disease is often fatal.
“I do remember thinking this might be it,” Melissa Solano said. “For some reason, I thought he and I were going to go together. But I was at peace with that,” she said of the thought that neither she nor her children would survive.
The Solanos said experts they consulted in North Texas believed Maximo was too small for a liver transplant. He was transferred to Texas Children’s Hospital On November 7, 2025, at the Texas Medical Center in Houston, experts worked to stabilize his failing organs. He underwent multiple plasma exchanges and required dialysis, blood products and respiratory support while doctors evaluated whether he would survive the transplant.
“This is an unusual disease, and it’s also unusual for patients to be stable enough that they can be cared for and transplanted,” said Dr. John Goss, medical director of transplant services at Texas Children’s Hospital.
Only about 40 patients in the United States have received GALD transplants, Goss said. Texas Children’s Hospital has treated two such cases this year, including Maximo’s.
On November 20, doctors placed Maximo on the transplant list. Eight days later, on Thanksgiving, the family learned that another baby’s liver was available for donation.
On November 28, Maximo’s one-month birthday, surgeons performed a liver transplant from an 8-month-old donor.
“Especially as a new mom, it’s really hard to hear because you know it means there’s going to be tragedy on the other side,” Melissa Solano said. “I can’t pray for someone else’s tragedy. So I kept praying that God would save our baby and find a way. And he did.”
The surgery had immediate results. Although the size of the donated organ posed some challenges, Maximo gradually learned to breathe on his own and recovered, which included a partial closure of the incision during the healing process because the donated organ was initially larger than his one-month-old body could accommodate.
About a month later, he was discharged from the hospital and returned home to North Texas with his family.
Now healthy, stable, and smiling, Maximo laughs every day with his parents and grandmother, who calls him “the strongest boy you’ll ever know.”
Michael Solano said his family named him in part because Maximus was the main character in the movie “Gladiator.” “Max” also made an unexpected appearance during Maximo’s hospitalization, as the brand name for goggles used during bilirubin treatment.
“He said, ‘This is a sign,'” Melissa said.
The family has reminders of Maximo’s journey posted throughout their home, including a plus-size liver-shaped pillow signed by each member of his medical team and a map showing where people around the world are praying for his recovery.
The Solanos also hope that one day they will meet the donor family whose decision allowed their son to survive.
“We thank God every day for our donors and their families,” Melissa Solano said.
The family now advocates for organ and blood donation and hopes Maximo’s story will encourage others to sign up as donors.
“Organ donation saves lives,” Melissa said. “We are so grateful every day.”
