Whitleys Comment:

I have completed a study of this image. If it is not a genuine image, and the odds are that it is not, then it is probably a video clip of a child that has been altered with a program like Kai Power Goo. Programs like this make images malleable, but the processed areas lose detail. In this image, this is precisely what happens: the area above the chin is pale and washed out as if it is overexposed, but the chin remains fully colored and detailed even though there would be no shadow cast on it different from the rest of the face.

In addition, the original GIF was 72 DPI, suggesting that it was a video clip and not a photograph, which would have scanned in at 300 DPI. This would have given the retoucher an advantage because he would have had less detail to contend with.

However, it is also true that the cast shadows are incredibly accurate for a retouch, and the strange reflective anomalies in the eyeballs cannot be explained unless they are a gross error made by an otherwise superb retoucher.

I feel that the image should be regarded as a probable fake made by a real expert, until and if it is proactively proved to be genuine.

Nevertheless, it is terribly authentic, so authentic that I believe that it can be used as an excellent acclimatization tool.