My grandmother lived to see her first great-great grandchild, which was really kind of neat. Her son (the baby's great grandfather) was already dead though, so the generational picture was incomplete.
About the small girl story, I'm not sure what to think of it. But I hate these stories, because people I hardly know are gonna expect me to be a bioethicist now...I'm much better at fake forensics, actually...armchair profiling, that kind of thing. On one hand, it seems like messing with nature's integrity, but nature didn't give a fuck about that when it made nine year old three month olds, did it? Huh. still can't take a side. Grandfathers: I wish I'd gotten to know Mom's dad better...wish he could have seen me grow up. We would have appreciated each other now.
erika, I'm right there with you (except nobody expects me to be a bioethicist about it). I think it's awful, and I'm a little scared a doctor would do it, because I don't see a medical reason for it. And yet, it makes a lot of sense, and that girl is so vulnerable. If she had to be institutionalized, she lacks the capacity to indicate if she's being mistreated.