Osteogenesis Imperfecta Foundation

CELEBRATING 40 YEARS OF HELPING FAMILIES!

Children and adults with osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) live with fragile bones that break very easily. When a baby is born with OI, diapering, dressing, or even the simple act of hugging a child can cause a fracture. Frequent fractures and/or bone deformity may require surgery to insert metal rods into the long bones of the arm and leg. Each fracture and surgery means pain, long periods of immobilization, time away from school or work, isolation from peers, and difficult therapy to regain function, as well as financial burdens for the family. Between 25,000 and 50,000 people in the United States live with this condition.

For 40 years, the Osteogenesis Imperfecta (OI) Foundation has helped people find the answers, doctors, and care they need during critical times in their lives. Your support ensures that the OI Foundation can continue to make a difference for families like Dan and Heidi, whose story is below.

Heidi lives with a relatively mild form of OI. Very much in love, Dan and Heidi decided to expand their family a little more than five years ago. Yet, two weeks prior to the scheduled C-section to deliver their son Isaac, Heidi could no longer walk due to unbearable hip pain. Exhausted and desperate, Dan found the OI Foundation’s website while frantically searching for a doctor who could diagnose the cause of Heidi’s pain.

The staff at the OI Foundation put her in touch with a nearby clinic with doctors experienced in treating people with OI. The doctor at the clinic subsequently diagnosed transient osteoporosis and immediately began treatment. Heidi was in a wheelchair for over four months, but she then was able to get back on her feet.

When you make a gift to the OI Foundation through the Combined Federal Campaign, you support this type of transformation in the lives of children and adults! The OI Foundation’s National Information Center is the only program dedicated to helping people understand and cope with this rare disorder. Information provided by the center is reliable and medically verified, and personal support is provided to individuals in a timely manner.