Living with microcephaly

NEW YORK (FOX 5 NEWS) - For parents, every step a child takes is a milestone. And every word they try to speak is memorable. For Tara McCarton and her husband Jimmy of Garden City, New York, every benchmark their 3-and-a-half-year-old daughter Audrey Paige reaches is monumental. Audrey was diagnosed with microcephaly after birth. Microcephaly is a birth defect where a baby's head is smaller than expected.

Tara's doctors said she was exposed to virus when she was pregnant. But the question of what virus remained. Doctors were unable to pinpoint it.

The McCartons pondered the questions for years. Then late last year, Tara read about the Zika virus outbreak. All symptoms of Zika matched what Tara experienced after returning from a trip to Puerto Rico in 2012. She was pregnant with Audrey on that trip.

Tara called the CDC immediately to inform the agency of the similarities. The CDC told her it can't rule out the fact that she may have contracted the virus while on vacation but also couldn't confirm.

The McCarton family got a sense of closure. They have new determination to be their daughter's voice by sharing her story with the world to educate other families who may be pondering the same question and facing the same obstacles.