Nebraska Woman Born Without a Brain Celebrates 20th Birthday as Family Credits Love and Faith for Her Survival

 

In Omaha, Nebraska, a family is celebrating a milestone they were once told would be impossible. Alex Simpson, who was born with hydranencephaly — a rare condition in which most of the brain is absent — has recently turned 20 years old, defying every medical expectation.

Alex was born appearing healthy, but a check-up two months later revealed that she had only a small amount of brain tissue — described by doctors as roughly the size of a pinky — located at the base of her skull. Specialists warned her parents, Shawn and Lorena Simpson, that their daughter would likely not survive past age 4.

But Alex continued to grow. And as each year passed, the family held on to faith, patience, and love.

“Twenty years ago, we were terrified,” Shawn recalled. “Faith is what carried us. It’s what held us up when we didn’t know what the next day would look like.”

Alex cannot see or hear in the conventional sense, yet her family says she is deeply perceptive.

Her younger brother, SJ, 14, says Alex responds to emotion more than sound.

“If someone’s stressed, she just knows,” he said. “If my grandma is hurting, Alex feels it — it’s like she absorbs the energy. It’s really something to witness.”

Hydranencephaly is extremely rare, affecting an estimated 1 in 5,000 to 1 in 10,000 pregnancies. According to the Cleveland Clinic, most babies with the condition do not live past the first year of life, and families are sometimes encouraged to consider pregnancy termination due to the severity of the diagnosis.

But the Simpsons chose to fight for Alex — and Alex fought back.

Lorena describes her daughter as resilient and full of quiet strength.

“She’s a fighter. She always has been,” she said.

The Simpsons credit love for Alex’s survival — and faith for their own.

After two decades of beating the odds, the family calls Alex nothing short of a miracle.