Afterword: Giving good advice: it is not what doctors say, but how they say it.

摘要

As a parent, I read these stories with tears in my eyes. I found myself imagining either of my 2 sons with the problems faced by the children in these stories. I wondered if I would be as brave and forgiving as the authors had been. I doubt it. I don't think I would have come through such experiences as "intact" as the authors seem to have done. I expect many people reading these essays shared my reaction. I cannot imagine the sadness of holding my newborn baby for a mere 2 and a half hours before he or she died, or of hearing the news that my baby had a chromosomal anomaly. Even the stories with happier endings, like Payot and Barrington's story of Zack celebrating his 21st birthday, didn't make me happy. I have 2 sons. When I imagined them with Zack's disabilities, I found myself bemoaning the loss of our driveway basketball games or their excellent report cards. With thoughts like these in my head, I can imagine that I, like the doctors in the stories, would recommend that parents look for ways to avoid such misery.