Gray's Donation

What It Covers

Sarah and Ross Gray donate the organs and tissue of their son Thomas, who lived 60 days after being born with anencephaly in 2010, then spend two years tracking down five research labs across Boston, Durham, Philadelphia, and Richmond to learn exactly how his corneas, liver, retina, and cord blood contributed to active medical studies.

Key Questions Answered

• •Infant tissue value in research: Infant eyes and organs carry significantly higher research value than adult donations because infant cells retain regenerative properties. Harvard ophthalmologist Dr. James Ziske confirmed that Thomas's corneal cells remained viable and in active use approximately two years post-donation — a lifespan that makes infant donations exceptionally rare and sought after by researchers.
• •Epigenetic research from twin donations: When one identical twin has anencephaly and the other does not, their cord blood creates a near-perfect control study. Duke University researchers comparing Thomas and Callum Gray's blood identified roughly 1,000 epigenetic differences — variations in gene regulation rather than gene sequence — that may help explain how anencephaly develops in utero.
• •Donor family outreach as a viable process: Families who donate organs can proactively contact receiving research institutions directly, even without formal channels. Sarah Gray cold-called Schepens Eye Research Institute in Boston, requested a 10-minute tour during a lunch break, and was granted access — establishing a replicable model for families seeking closure and researchers seeking human context.
• •Bruised or damaged organs still yield research value: Thomas's liver arrived at CytoNet in Durham too bruised for injection into a transplant patient, but researchers used it to determine the optimal freezing temperature for infant liver cells: negative 150 degrees Celsius. Families should know that even compromised donations can produce concrete, publishable scientific findings rather than going unused.
• •Researcher guilt as a barrier to donor-scientist connection: Dr. Arupa Ganguly at University of Pennsylvania described experiencing guilt each time a pediatric retina sample arrived, feeling complicit in the child's death by needing it. Direct contact with donor families — as Sarah initiated — reframed this dynamic, with Sarah explicitly telling Ganguly that unused tissue would simply have been buried.