Baby born with eyes close

I'm curious to know why a newborn is born with eyes close and still not able to open them after 2 weeks later. I'm curious to whats the problem and how can this be corrected.  The mother took the baby to a specialist and they stated his muscle wasn't strong enough for him to open his eyes due to him being born 2 weeks early and to be patient and let him open them when he's ready. Okay, doesn't make sense to me.....because there should be a better reason for that.  At your convience, please review my question and give me your honest opinion on what the problem could be.

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

If the mother saw a eye specialist and they found the eye itself okay then there is no reason to disbelieve them. The other possiblity is that there is bilateral ptosis (droopy upper lid) and the child is much too young to do a surgical correction of that. Close follow up with a pediatric eye ophthalmologist is what's needed.

JCH MD