LEWISVILLE, TEXAS — Maximo Solano, a newborn from Lewisville, Texas, underwent a liver transplant at Texas Children's Hospital in Houston on Nov. 28, 2025, at age 31 days. Surgeons used a donor organ from an eight-month-old infant to treat the baby's Gestational Alloimmune Liver Disease, a rare condition in which the mother's immune system attacks the baby's liver during pregnancy.

Melissa Solano underwent an emergency C-section in Plano in late 2025, during which she experienced life-threatening blood loss. After birth, Maximo was taken to the neonatal intensive care unit with breathing complications and signs of severe liver failure. Melissa survived the surgery complications.

"You wouldn't believe it, man. It was very, very scary." Michael Solano, the baby's father, said of the days following the delivery. "She had lost enough blood to die," he said. "I was lost," he added.

Gestational Alloimmune Liver Disease is typically fatal without intervention, and specialists in North Texas considered Maximo too small for a liver transplant. He was transferred to Texas Children's Hospital in the Texas Medical Center in Houston on Nov. 7, 2025, for organ stabilization. There, he underwent multiple plasma exchanges and required dialysis, blood products, and respiratory support during evaluation for a transplant.

Only about 40 patients in the United States have received liver transplants for the condition. Texas Children's Hospital treated two such cases this year, including Maximo's.

"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 Hospital.

Maximo was placed on the transplant list on Nov. 20, 2025. On Thanksgiving Day, a donor liver from another infant became available.

"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."

After surgery, Maximo gradually learned to breathe independently and recovered despite challenges related to the donor organ size. Approximately one month after the transplant, he was discharged and returned home to North Texas with his family.

The family named him partly after the movie Gladiator, whose lead character is Maximus. They keep a liver-shaped pillow signed by every member of his medical team and a map showing places where people prayed for his recovery. The Solano family hopes to meet the donor family and advocates for organ and blood donation. "We thank God for the donor and their family every single day," Solano said.