Although Avery Lynne Morgan has not yet been born, she already has a rough road ahead of her. But she also has a loving family willing to travel that road with her.

Avery, still in utero, is the cherished third daughter of Robert and Aimee Morgan of Beaverlett. Avery has been diagnosed by doctors with spina bifida, a condition in which part of the central nervous system—the brain, spinal cord, or the covering around them—doesn’t fully develop.

The condition can be so mild that there are no symptoms or disabilities, said Robert, but doctors have told him and Aimee to expect that Avery could have anything from partial leg paralysis and bladder complications to quadriplegia and brain injury. If she is born with her spine exposed, she will need surgery shortly after birth to close the opening, and there’s a good chance she’ll need a second surgery to remove water from the brain.

The news was totally unexpected. The couple’s two older daughters—A...