Dean Hatahit’s Story: Small But Mighty

by Family House

Published on July 26, 2024

Dean Hatahit was born on September 19, 2023. His parents, Razan and Hisham, were so excited to bring their first baby into the world. They brought their healthy newborn home from their local hospital in Orange County, California with no hiccups, but two days later they got a call from their doctor. Dean had tested positive for Severe Combined Immunodeficiency (SCID), a rare genetic disorder that meant he was born without T and B immune cells. Dean was diagnosed with a rare form of the disorder called Artemis SCID, affecting only one out of every three million babies.

From that moment, everything changed for their family. Dean spent a month in their local hospital with Razan, neither of them able to have any contact with the outside world because of Dean’s fragile condition. From there, he was airlifted to UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital to enter into the only clinical trial in the world for his rare form of the disorder.

“Our whole world came crashing down once Dean was diagnosed. We kept thinking it couldn’t be real – he seemed so healthy, how could he have such a rare and scary diagnosis? Everything we thought our life would be like with our first baby just wasn’t true anymore, and that was hard to accept.” – Razan, Dean’s mom

The Hatahit family first came to Family House in early November once Dean’s clinical trial at UCSF began. They stayed through Dean’s bone marrow harvest, chemotherapy, multiple trips to the emergency room and many late nights. They stayed through Thanksgiving, Christmas, Valentine’s Day and Easter. Through it all, they found strength in each other and leaned on the Family House Staff and other families for support.

Dean will remain in the specialized clinical trial at UCSF until he’s 15. Razan and Hisham will continue to travel back and forth, staying at Family House every three months until he turns two, and then once a year for the following years.

“For me as a father, it’s the peace of mind I feel having the staff and security here at Family House. I don’t have to worry as much when I need to be back home for work and Razan stays with Dean alone. It really is a home away fro. home” – Hisham, Dean’s dad


Family House San Francisco is an independent non-profit organization led by a professional staff and board of directors dedicated to providing residential services free of charge to qualifying families. We rely solely on the generous contributions of individuals, corporations, and foundations.

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