Parents decide to use medical treatments to keep their severely mentally disabled daughter child-sized for the rest of her life. Nine-year-old Ashley suffers from a type of brain damage doctors call static encephalopathy and has the mental ability of a 3-month-old baby. She can’t walk, talk or keep her head up and is fed through a tube. Her parents say keeping her small will make her bed-ridden existence more comfortable.

• U.S. Couple Defend Halting Disabled Daughter’s Growth