"Our story's not over!" Cassie Mycoskie sobbed to her husband Chris as she was wheeled back into the hospital room in the summer of 2020. They had just lost their daughter, Grace, who was stillborn.
It was the third time the Mycoskies, who live in Collin County, had lost a child. Their daughters Angel and Hope were lost to miscarriages.
Their son, Austin, is seven years old, and longs to be a big brother.
So a few years ago the Mycoskies decided to move into the adoption process. It's been long and hard. Filled with heartbreaking times where their hopes had been dashed at the last moment.
Finally, on May 12, they got their match. The Mycoskies raced to Houston to meet their new baby girl, Hannah, who was three weeks old when she was put up for adoption.
Chris says things were overwhelmingly joyful for the first 48 hours.
Then medical forms started to trickle in. Hydranencephaly. Rare. Terminal. Hospice.
Unimaginable pain.
Hydranencephaly occurs when the brain does not get fully developed and fluid-filled sacs replace the brain tissue. As the child grows, the head swells with fluid. There is no cure. Life expectancy is typically less than a year.
Because the birth mother didn't disclose the condition, the Mycoskies had the option to reverse the adoption process and "surrender" Hannah.
The adoption agency told the Mycoskies about that option.
Absolutely not.
"I screamed at her. I had to go back and apologize later," Chris said. "But I was at the top of my lungs saying 'This is our daughter!' I was yelling, I was crying. There is no point in which we are going to 'surrender' her."
The Mycoskies have never been about surrendering, unless you count surrendering their pain to a higher power.
The simple message: "Pray for Hannah."
They're not asking for money. There is no Go Fund Me.
Just simple requests for prayer.
"The moment that she came into our arms, she became part of our family," Chris says. "We're going to do everything possible to help her, to get her the best medical treatment possible, to make sure that she has the best life that she can. Even if it's a short one. And to love on her with every fiber of our being as long as we can."
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