Born and died without one being desired (6)
I believe the answer is:
needed
'desired' is the definition.
(needing is a kind of desiring)
'born and died without one' is the wordplay.
'born' becomes 'nee' (I've seen this before).
'and' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'without' indicates named letters should be taken away.
'one' becomes 'i' (Roman numeral).
'died' with 'i' taken out is 'ded'.
'nee'+'ded'='NEEDED'
'being' is the link.
(Other definitions for needed that I've seen before include "Essential; called for" , "Obligatory" , "'Wanted, required (6)'" , "Was in want of" , "Required, necessary" .)