That Only Mother

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That Only Mother |

JUDITH MERRIL |

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This story takes place in wartime. During the war the radiation had increased and caused a higher rate of infantile deformity. Maggie and her husband Hank were expecting their first child. They were concerned about the higher rate of birth defects but they believed it was not affecting their child.

Her husband Hank works as designer for weapons and had to be away from her for many months. In his absence, Maggie gave birth to their child. Unfortunately, the baby had no arms or legs. The nurse could not tell whether the baby was girl or a boy. However, in her eyes the baby was fine. She shut out the truth. She did not want to believe it. She thinks that the doctor is talking nonsense and she called a nurse is idiot.

Maggie kept sending letters to her husband writing about the baby’s development. Finally, Hank came back home and realized that his baby has no arms and legs. Hank was shocked that his baby was not normal and his wife was insane. “Why didn’t you tell me?” If he knew the baby had been this deformed he would have stopped her from having it. Hank in his anger lost control and killed his child because he felt the baby was better off dead.

This story represents the anxiety that women had to go through in 1950s. It makes us think about anxiety of reproduction and how people could lose their control and commit a grievous mistake. Moreover parents commitment having a child and become parents such as child abuse.

Nowadays doctor can find out ahead of time if the baby is going to be healthy or disabled. It helps a mother and father faces the decision to terminate or keep a pregnancy. I read the article about a mother who went through this painful decision. The doctor explained to the mother that her baby had a problem with its spine and would never walk. She chose to terminate her baby. She said “I could not bring this child into the world, knowing the...