Doctors, family launch campaign to save baby girl

MIAMI (AP) -- Doctors, advocates and the family of a baby from Colombia are calling for help in raising money for a surgery to help save the young girl's life.

Ten-month-old Maria Jose Valderrama was born with a severe birth defect known as cloacal exstrophy.

Much of the baby's abdominal organs are exposed, creating a risk of infection. Her genitalia are also not formed.

The International Kids Fund Wonderfund, a Jackson Memorial Foundation program, is starting a campaign to help raise $85,000 for surgery. The baby and her family do not have medical insurance and she is not a U.S. resident.

The Wonderfund provides medical care to children with life-threatening illnesses who cannot be treated in their home countries.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)