From Publishers Weekly
For a 1998 Boston Globe article, reporter Zuckoff interviewed Greg and Tierney Fairchild, a happily married, interracial professional couple who went for the usual prenatal screenings and came away with some very bad news: the fetus carried a major heart defect that could signal Down syndrome. Zuckoff's compassionate and informative medical cliff-hanger draws on extensive interviews with the Fairchilds, their families, friends and medical practitioners, as well as broad research into the history and science of issues related to the developmentally disabled. The story opens with Tierney's joyous "positive" result on the home pregnancy test. All is going well until, during a routine ultrasound, a doctor declares, "I think we have a problem here." More tests confirm the Down syndrome diagnosis. Up against Connecticut's 24-week deadline for elective abortions, the couple struggles with complicated ethical and practical concerns, since the newborn would have to undergo major open-heart surgery and face lifelong retardation, in addition to other medical problems. In the end, they decide this will simply be one more challenge they'll face together. After Naia's birth, the Fairchilds struggle to keep her alive and fight to strengthen her for heart surgery, while working to develop her social and mental skills to the best of her abilities, which turn out to be great indeed. While Zuckoff's focus stays on the couple, he broadens the usefulness of their story with asides on the history of the treatment of retardation, including the legal and medical issues such cases raise, with endnotes detailing his sources and an appendix listing resources for people needing further guidance.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Library Journal
Zuckoff expands upon his award-winning series of newspaper articles of the same name in this book about the heartbreak that arises when modern medicine's astounding ability to identify problems while a baby is still in the womb comes face to face with its inability to do anything about them. The book follows a couple from the time they discover that their child will be born with Down syndrome through their decision to continue the pregnancy and into the baby's first years of life. Zuckoff made a wise decision in choosing the Fairchilds as the subjects of his book. First, they appear to be prochoice, so their eventual decision to continue the pregnancy is more interesting than it might have been if they were staunch prolifers. Second, their mixed-race marriage adds some interesting dynamics to their extended-family interactions. Third, they did not fall into a high-risk factor category for having a child with Down syndrome, and initial screening tests did not suggest a problem. This book will be of interest not only to parents facing a similar decision but also to those interested in the ethical, religious, social, and economic issues surrounding prenatal diagnosis. For most collections. KellyJo Houtz Griffin, Eatonville, WA
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
