Books: New Picoult novel grapples with wrongful birth lawsuit
February 17th, 2009
Should parents tell court they wish daughter with disabilities had never been born?
From the Lyme [CT] Times:
In an interview, best-selling author Jodi Picoult discusses her upcoming novel “Handle With Care,” due out March 8. The book chronicles the journey of a couple whose daughter, Willow, is diagnosed with osteogenesis imperfecta, a genetic disease that causes brittle, breaking bones but no cognitive impairment.
From the author’s website:
If [Charlotte] files a wrongful birth lawsuit against her OB/GYN for not telling her in advance that her child would be born severely disabled, the monetary payouts might ensure a lifetime of care for Willow. But it means that Charlotte has to get up in a court of law and say in public that she would have terminated the pregnancy if she’d known about the disability in advance – words that her husband can’t abide, that Willow will hear, and that Charlotte cannot reconcile.
… When faced with the reality of a fetus who will be disabled, at which point should an OB counsel termination? Should a parent have the right to make that choice? How disabled is TOO disabled? And as a parent, how far would you go to take care of someone you love? Would you alienate the rest of your family? Would you be willing to lie to your friends, to your spouse, to a court? And perhaps most difficult of all -– would you admit to yourself that you might not actually be lying?
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March 16th, 2009 at 3:49 pm
I read this book over the weekend. The book handled every point of view very well. I did hate the ending but will not spoil it for any of you. This is my first time reading a book by her and i was impressed.
One thing that i think why this book impacted me so much was how similar it was to my own struggles with having a child with special needs. The book really hit home on lots of fronts especially about the spousal relationships as well as the other sibling.
I think the reason i really hated the ending was the this book spoke loudly to me about very complex things and deep down inside i think we as parents with children of special needs are terrified that we will lose our children before they lose us.
February 18th, 2009 at 11:37 am
I am very much looking forward to reading this book – I am curious how the author will handle this issue. Having read some of her books, I do like the way she handles complex issues. I’ve never been this close to any of those issues before, so I wonder how different reading this book will be than reading her others.