ATLANTA -- Baby Noor will probably never walk.

The surgeon set to operate on the Iraqi infant next week at Atlanta's Children's Hospital-Scottish Rite is confident he can correct her abnormal spine.

Noor suffers from spina bifida, a birth defect in which the backbone and spinal cord do not close before birth. On the baby's back was a fluid-filled sac containing part of the spinal cord and membranes that are supposed to cover the spinal cord.

Dr. Roger Hudgins told Channel 2 Action News, "my hope is that even though she will be in a wheelchair, its more important that she enjoy her life."

The first surgery for Noor is set for Monday.

Hudgins says he will repair her spinal cord, place it down the center of her back and then cover it with muscle and tissue.

Baby Noor al-Zahr was discovered by U-S troops four weeks ago during a raid on a house west of Baghdad.