Clara's journey: 9-year-old with deformed face navigates the world

What would you do if you knew, before your child was born, that she wouldn't look like everyone else? Clara Beatty's parents knew their daughter would be born with facial deformities after a prenatal screening showed she had a genetic mutation called Treacher Collins syndrome. But they knew that she was likely to be a normal kid on the inside.

What they didn't know is just how well Clara would navigate the world. Janet Beatty, Clara's mother, is astounded at how well her daughter lives, the Associated Press reports. "Even when she was little, you could look at her and people would say there's an old soul in there," she said. "She just had these big eyes and you could see her taking everything in."

Here's a Beatty family photo, taken on Feb. 22, 2012. From left to right: Janet Beatty (Clara's mother), Clara, older siblings Gretchen and Henry, and father Eric Beatty.

Keep clicking to see more photos and to learn more about Clara's story...

Clara at 16 months old on Dec. 25, 2003, in her Winnetka, Ill. home. Clara wears hearing aids and will likely undergo cosmetic surgery to extend her jaw and increase the size of her cheekbones when she is a teenager.

In this Oct. 24, 2010 photo, Clara, then 8, poses with the family dog with her sister Gretchen and brother Henry. Cosmetic surgery was an option for her, but at such a young age, it would have to be redone, over and over. It was better, doctors said, to wait until her teen years.

A decade ago, Clara's parents were living in Belgium where prenatal screening was extensive. Even in the womb, doctors could see severe facial deformities - droopy eyes, under-developed cheekbones and a tiny jaw. Clara would need a tube in her neck to help her breathe after birth and the lack of outer ear and restricted ear canals would mean she'd have hearing aids by the time she was 6 months old.

Dr. Nancy Young, of the pediatric otolaryngology division at Children's Memorial Hospital, examines 9-year-old Clara Beatty's hearing aids during a visit to the hospital's offices in Glenview, Ill., on Feb. 6, 2012. Clara uses special hearing aids that attach with magnets placed under her skin because she has very narrow ear canals and only remnants of outer ears.

In this Feb. 18, 2012 photo, Clara smiles as she reclines on a couch at her home. Clara's parents say she is a strong little girl who generally navigates the world with ease. Clara does say that people's stares and comments annoy her sometimes, but generally, she has learned to ignore them - or "smiles and says hi" as her parents have instructed her to do.

Clara looks forward to the day a few years from now when her skull will have grown enough for cosmetic surgery. It won't "fix" things, but likely will help her blend more - and possibly help her get rid of the breathing tube.

Clara at 9 years, on Feb. 22, 2012, working on her math homework at home. She says math and reading are her favorite subjects, and she hopes to be a doctor one day.

Clara, at 9, hugged by friend Zuzu Smith, whom Clara mentored during a production of the Special Gifts Theatre, a drama troupe for children with special needs in Winnetka, Ill. As a mentor, Clara helped Zuzu with her lines in a production of "The Wizard of Neverland."

"It's fun," Clara says, "to help someone and give them a better chance at life."

Clara helps Zuzu with her lines for the play. Clara's mother says that at home or school or church, people know her daughter. To them, she is just Clara - the funny, kind girl who wants to be a doctor when she grows up, who's quick to help classmates with homework when she finishes her own.

People often assume that Clara can't speak or understand them. Her classmates at school, however, are perplexed that a reporter would be doing a story about her.

"Why?" one asks.

"Because Clara is awesome!" another quickly replies.

Clara looks at her childhood photos on a computer with her mother.

About her daughter's future, Janet says, "We're all learning that we're just going to do what we're going to do, and we're not going to pay attention to what other people think.