The takeaway of this story for me, after reading this, is not the scientific implications, but I come away with tremendous sympathy and respect for the parents.

The takeaway of this story for me, after reading this, is not the scientific implications, but I come away with tremendous sympathy and respect for the parents. Having just become a father a few weeks ago, I'm beyond grateful that our son so far appears to be a healthy boy and when I read about parents having to deal with adverse health events of their children, I can't think of anything tougher to go through than that. I don't know if I would have the strength or resilience to do what these parents did (raise these girls, who never develop beyond infancy), nor do I know whether it's the "right thing to do" (or if there even is such a distinction under the circumstances), but I respect the hell out of them.