In November 2005, Alex Simpson was born in Omaha, Nebraska. Her diagnosis wasn’t good. The rest of this article is behind a paywall. Please sign in or subscribe to access the full content.

At first, everything seemed fine – until she was 2 months old. Then, the problems began: Alex was crying 20-22 hours a day; she was having trouble digesting milk – and when her parents took her to the hospital, the reason became clear.

Alex had no brain.

Or, to be more accurate, she had no cerebrum . She was born with a disease called hydranencephaly, where the biggest, wrinkly , most “brain” bit of the brain never develops. Her doctors told her parents that she would likely not live past 6 months old – and, indeed, that’s usually what happens for babies with the condition.

Instead, Simpson and h

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