Baby Doe

by H. William Taeusch

"Having lived through the baby Doe era and having taken care of babies such as the case described in this novel, I find Baby Doe does a terrific job depicting the issues, emotions, and turmoil of those times. This is an honest and accurate rendition of the parents' raw pain, guilt, confusion, and agony, also of the ethical dilemmas for both parents and medical professionals."
--Stella Kourembanas, M.D., Clement A. Smith Professor of Pediatrics & Chief, Division of Newborn Medicine; Academic Chair, Harvard Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine Program, Harvard Medical School.

307 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 15, 2020

About the author

I was lazy and asked chat gbt to write it ( I love it):
H. William Taeusch, MD, is a renowned neonatologist known for his significant contributions to neonatal respiratory care. He earned his medical degree from Case Western Reserve med school and has held prominent positions as a professor, clinician, and researcher. Dr. Taeusch has published extensively on neonatal respiratory disorders, particularly neonatal respiratory distress syndrome (RDS), improving treatment protocols and outcomes for infants.

In addition to his medical career, Dr. Taeusch is an accomplished author, writing novels such as "Baby Doe" and "DiBene's Offer," which explore the ethical and personal challenges faced by staff and families in neonatal ICU settings. His work in both medicine and literature has had a lasting impact, advancing neonatal care and providing insightful narratives on medical ethics.

Reviews

[Barbara Brown]

Beautifully written poignant book.

[Jeffrey Green]

Full disclosure: the author of this book is a friend of mine. If I had anything bad to say about it, I wouldn't express an opinion. However, even if Bill Taeusch weren't a friend, I would have only good things to say about it.
The subject of this book, dead babies, is not exactly joyful. That caveat being gotten out of the way, "Baby Doe" explores the emotional and ethical dilemmas faced by parents with severely handicapped babies with delicacy and wisdom. Dr. Taeusch had a long career caring for premature infants, admirably suiting him for portraying this sensitive issue. Unusually for a novel, he includes an appendix reviewing government policy regarding allowing a severely handicapped infant to die rather than aggressively intervening with risky surgery to repair the defects, as well as a long bibliography covering the medical and philosophical issues involved.
The book also has some vivid sailing scenes, reflecting another of Bill's interests, some good vignettes about academic competition, and well-rounded characters.
This book would never have come my way if I didn't know its author. I strongly recommend it even to readers who have never met H. William Taeusch.

[Holly]

I don't know if I was aware or not before reading this that it was slightly based around a true story. Regardless, it seemed like something that could be very realistic fiction which is probably what drew me to it since I'm not usually a fiction fan. Anyway.... some parts I found rather boring and unnecessary to the book. Kind of like filler information maybe. But for the most part, I did enjoy the book. I kept having conflicting emotions in regards to the decisions that were - or rather weren't - being made for the baby. I did appreciate the extra information at the end regarding the "real" baby doe and all the different laws that have been passed, changed, and etc.

[howsoonisnow]

Covers all the issues, from all the angles you'd expect for a topic of this nature. The topic being, the birth of a baby with severe birth defects. Features everyone that would be relevant in a situation such as this, even the journalists, whose involvement wouldn't have even crossed my mind. Great touch. A little cheesy and affected at parts, particularly the constant banging on about how smart and driven the protagonist is - as though Taeusch were setting the scene about how such a woman wouldn't couldn't tolerate genetically inferior offspring. A little preachy towards the end, as Taeusch clearly demonstrated a preference for euthanasia being the appropriate course of action in this particular situation. The prose was somewhat clunky, stilted an awkward. But overall, it was a pacy, riveting, binge-worthy read. The kind that has you at the edge of your seat, wanting to find out what happens next. Fascinating premise, decent execution.

[Roberta Young]

This is a well written work dealing with a subject of a very personal nature. It is not preachy. Both sides of the issue are presented. The problem of facing a very personal choice in an environment of the medical community working to both cover their asses and to follow the laws of the land. This is not a comfortable read but rather a thought provoking one.

[Mary Tharp]

So sad to read about the decisions parents had to make.

[LisaMarie]

It was very thought provoking. The ethics in the medical field as to just being a mother. Good read.

[Randi]

Not an easy read but one that is well thought out and is thought provoking. An important book in these difficult times.

[E McCarthy]

Extremely slow. No mention of a NICU until page 100.

[Anna Kaaiakamanu]

This story is loosely based on true events. I enjoyed the story and ethical dilemmas in healthcare. One thing that I didn’t like was I felt Part 1 drug on forever. I almost didn’t make it to the final parts of the book because I got bored in the beginning. Some of the information was needed for backstory but I felt I could be cut down quite a bit. Overall great book!