Parents who carried baby without brain to term say heartbreaking goodbyes
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Royce and Kerri made the decision to carry their baby to term after learning that she did not have a brain so that they could donate her organs.
Eva Young was born without a brain earlier this month, but not before her parents made her a national hero when they decided to carry her to term to donate her organs and save other babies’ lives.
Keri and Royce Young, of Oklahoma City, said goodbye to their daughter on April 17 after Royce’s heartbreaking tribute to Keri went viral in February, Fox News previously reported.
In a new Facebook post featuring a photo of Royce, Keri, Eva, and the couple’s young son, Harrison, Keri offered an intimate glimpse into the family’s fleeting moments with their newborn daughter.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“We said hello and goodbye to our sweet Eva yesterday,” Young posted on April 18. “She was so perfect in her own little way. I’ll be sharing more about her incredible story later. And of course, this is NOT a sad post. Don’t hit that [reaction] button.”
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News about the family’s journey with Eva first went viral in February, after Royce posted a photo of Keri during a nap and reflected on their unborn daughter. He recalled Keri’s reaction to hearing that their daughter was developing without a brain and called it “one of the most powerful things I’ve ever experienced.”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“In the eight years we’ve been married (and 15 years together) I’ve had a lot of moments stop me in my tracks where I thought, ‘holy crap, this woman I’m married to, lucky me.’ But this one was different,” he posted Feb. 17. “It hit me that not only am I married to my very best friend, but to a truly remarkable, special human being.”
In the post, Royce said they arrived at the decision to carry Eva to full term and donate her organs because it was a “practical endgame that in our minds, before we came to the realization Eva is alive and our daughter deserves to meet her mama and daddy, gave us a purpose to continue one.”
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“Donating was on Keri’s mind from darn near the second we found out and while the experience of holding and kissing our daughter will be something we cherish forever, the gift(s) inside that little body of hers is what really matters.”
As of Thursday morning, the viral Feb. 17 post had been shared more than 23,000 times and received more than 65,000 likes.