However, the elation of doubling their familial blessings was short-lived. Less than a fortnight later, the couple’s world was shattered when they learned that one of their unborn daughters had a devastating and fatal condition, rendering her incapable of surviving beyond birth.
During a pivotal ultrasound, a deafening silence from the doctor overshadowed their initial excitement at seeing their two unborn babies. Intuitively, both Smith and Cann sensed the impending somber revelation. The doctors conveyed the grim news that one of the twins had anencephaly, a rare and severe birth defect, affecting only one in 4,600 babies across the United States. This condition left a baby devoid of critical portions of the brain and skull, and nearly all infants born with anencephaly succumbed shortly after birth.
Confronted with the agonizing certainty of one baby’s imminent demise and potential risks to the other, the couple resolved to proceed with the exceedingly high-risk pregnancy.
