Choosing Naia : A Family's Journey

Rating:
Summary: I do not recommend "Choosing Naia"
Review: Greg and Tierney Fairchild are a well-educated, middle class couple who are thrilled to discover that Tierney is pregnant. Tierney undergoes all of the usual tests, and the Fairchilds are stunned to discover that not only does their unborn child have a hole in her heart, but that she may also be born with Down syndrome.

Investigative reporter Mitchell Zuckoff spent hundreds of hours with Tierney and Greg, and the result is "Choosing Naia," a book that began as a series of articles in the Boston Globe. This book is not only the story of a couple's arduous journey, but it is also an eye-opening look at the history of Down syndrome and a good explanation for the layman of what such a diagnosis means to a child and his parents.

Zuckoff's conversational style makes "Choosing Naia" flow smoothly. Throughout the book, the author provides valuable information on such topics as genetic testing and counseling, early intervention for children with Down syndrome, and the importance of networking in order to get the most valuable information and assistance for your child. Another factor that makes "Choosing Naia" stand out is its unflinching honesty. It is a tribute to the Fairchilds that they allowed their doubts, fears and uncertainties to be recorded for posterity. They come across as vulnerable, yet strong and determined, real people who have decided to meet a difficult challenge.

I highly recommend this touching and informative book. "Choosing Naia" reminds us that in an age of amazing technology and prenatal testing, we are privy to information that may make our lives more complicated than ever before.

Rating:
Summary: A couple must make a difficult choice.
Review: Greg and Tierney Fairchild are a well-educated, middle class couple who are thrilled to discover that Tierney is pregnant. Tierney undergoes all of the usual tests, and the Fairchilds are stunned to discover that not only does their unborn child have a hole in her heart, but that she may also be born with Down syndrome.

Investigative reporter Mitchell Zuckoff spent hundreds of hours with Tierney and Greg, and the result is "Choosing Naia," a book that began as a series of articles in the Boston Globe. This book is not only the story of a couple's arduous journey, but it is also an eye-opening look at the history of Down syndrome and a good explanation for the layman of what such a diagnosis means to a child and his parents.

Zuckoff's conversational style makes "Choosing Naia" flow smoothly. Throughout the book, the author provides valuable information on such topics as genetic testing and counseling, early intervention for children with Down syndrome, and the importance of networking in order to get the most valuable information and assistance for your child. Another factor that makes "Choosing Naia" stand out is its unflinching honesty. It is a tribute to the Fairchilds that they allowed their doubts, fears and uncertainties to be recorded for posterity. They come across as vulnerable, yet strong and determined, real people who have decided to meet a difficult challenge.

I highly recommend this touching and informative book. "Choosing Naia" reminds us that in an age of amazing technology and prenatal testing, we are privy to information that may make our lives more complicated than ever before.

Rating:
Summary: The Other Choice in pro-choice
Review: How many of us have said we believe in a woman's right to choose, but would not personally choose abortion? What if you knew that your child would be born with an unknown degree of mental retardation?

In these situations, many Americans, including those who declare themselves to be pro-choice, don't see a pregnancy as a "choice": the woman/couple should abort a child with a condition such as Down syndrome or spinal bifida.

Mitchell Zuckoff's tale is one of a couple who discover that their long-awaited child not only has a hole in her tiny heart, but also has Down syndrome. Zuckoff takes us through Greg and Tierney Fairchild's weeks of agony as they explore the decision to continue Tierney's pregnancy and the months following their choice.

Family members urge them to consider both termination and continuance, while doctors and counselors strive to remain neutral. Meanwhile, Greg and Tierney wrestle with the questions that would inform our own opinions: would they be able to have other children, knowing that their first-born may require a great deal of time, money, and energy? Were they willing to fight discrimination and ignorance for their child's life?

As the book's title makes clear, the couple chooses to continue the pregnancy and take the future as it comes. Unfortunately, it comes with much more heartache. Zuckoff recounts the early health difficulties that plagued baby Naia's life, as well as her parents's introductions to the social challenges she will face.

I applaud Zuckoff's work on this book. While the reader is aware that none of the characters are telling the story, the journalist also does not appear in the tale. He effectively minimizes the space he occupies on the edges of the page.

Zuckoff strives to tell a complete story in every chapter. After opening with a scene from the family, he explores background information about prenatal testing, the history of mental retardation in the US, and the biology of Down syndrome. The reader is exposed to much of the same information the Fairchilds sought out during the decision-making period. While the author does not become over-technical, at times he fails to make a smooth transition between the Fairchilds and the other information.

What Zuckoff does not tackle is the Fairchilds's choice in the abstract. For those of us who call ourselves pro-choice, what does it mean when a woman/couple makes the "wrong" choice? Are we willing to support women/couples who choose to have a child with a debilitating condition, possibly suffering from profound mental retardation?

However, this is a small criticism. If his focus was on one particular couple, then these wider issues have limited value in the narrative. Greg and Tierney face this issue on a small scale when family members gently urge her to consider termination.

The tale is one of heartbreak, triumph, resilience, and overwhelming love. For those who enjoy it, I recommend both Martha Beck's "Expecting Adam" (which covers the same ground with a more mystical spin) and Rayna Rapp's "Testing Women, Testing the Fetus" (which covers the ethical and social issues of amniocentesis).

Rating:
Summary: been there
Review: I just finished reading "Choosing Naia" and very much enjoyed it. I have a six year old boy with DS who was diagnosed when I was 20-21 weeks pregnant. I was interesting to see some of the similarites between my families situation and reactions and the Fairchilds. I would highly reccommend this book. I do not feel there was undue emphanise on the potenital abililies or inabilities of the unborn child. I have a hard time believing anyone in this situation would not have those thoughts. I feel everyone wants a child who is happy ,interactive and to some degree self suffient. The issue of abortion was explored and I found it interesting to profile a couple who had made the decision to terminate. It is amazing the technology availble to diagnose DS during pregnancy but I personally wished I had not known before the birth of my son. Knowing ahead of time ruined the joy of my first pregnancy He was born without any health problems which was a blessing. Mattie is not what I would consider high functioning (not talking or potty trained) but he is his own person and can't imagine life without him. Having a child with DS is not the end of the world or even close.

Rating:
Summary: been there
Review: I just finished reading "Choosing Naia" and very much enjoyed it. I have a six year old boy with DS who was diagnosed when I was 20-21 weeks pregnant. I was interesting to see some of the similarites between my families situation and reactions and the Fairchilds. I would highly reccommend this book. I do not feel there was undue emphanise on the potenital abililies or inabilities of the unborn child. I have a hard time believing anyone in this situation would not have those thoughts. I feel everyone wants a child who is happy ,interactive and to some degree self suffient. The issue of abortion was explored and I found it interesting to profile a couple who had made the decision to terminate. It is amazing the technology availble to diagnose DS during pregnancy but I personally wished I had not known before the birth of my son. Knowing ahead of time ruined the joy of my first pregnancy He was born without any health problems which was a blessing. Mattie is not what I would consider high functioning (not talking or potty trained) but he is his own person and can't imagine life without him. Having a child with DS is not the end of the world or even close.

Rating:
Summary: I do not recommend "Choosing Naia"
Review: I was very disappointed with "Choosing Naia". I would not recommend this book to anyone expecting a child with Down syndrome, or even to someone who already has a child with Down syndrome. I found the style dry and uninteresting; I found the emphasis on "how retarded" she'd be (and the end implication that the only reason the story had a happy ending was because of her cognition skills) extremely disturbing. Despite the fact that the author has put everything ever written about Down syndrome into this book (although with an emphasis on eugenics and abortion), I would not recommend this to students. People, including those with Down syndrome, aren't worthy because of their cognitive or language abilities. They are worthy because they are human beings. Kids are kids. If you want to know more about Down syndrome, meet a few people who happen to have it. Read stories from parents, not from a journalist. And give this book a miss.

Rating:
Summary: The Nature of Parenthood
Review: Some of you in the Boston area may have seen the series that ran in the Globe last year, the author expanded it into a book. It profiles a couple who gets back the AFP results showing an increased risk for abnormalities, has the amnio and then has to choose between having a child with Down syndrome or terminating the pregnancy and trying again. The author, Mitchell Zuckoff, spoke at the National Down Syndrome Congress convention in Denver back in August and said that his original intention with the series was to show how advances in technology present us with very serious choices and explore how different families deal with them. The book is not at all preachy in either the pro-life or pro-choice direction, very balanced. It really makes you think about the nature of the challenges of parenthood and how our choices play out.

Rating:
Summary: An incredible story
Review: What do you do when your worst fears come true? That's the question that faces this remarkable couple, Greg and Tierney Fairchild, when they're expecting their first child. The way they answer that question is an incredible story -- suspenseful, riveting, enlightening -- and it affects all of our lives. Although they have to deal with a diagnosis of Down syndrome and a heart defect, the point of this remarkable book is that our ability to know what's going on in the womb is outpacing our capacity to deal with that knowledge. Seeing how the Fairchild family deals with it, and watching them grow along with their daughter Naia, makes for a fabulous read.