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1991 BYU L. Rev. 697 (1991)
Should the Baby Live: The Problem of Handicapped Infants

handle is hein.journals/byulr1991 and id is 707 raw text is: Should the Baby Live? The Problem of Handicapped Infants By Helga Kuhse and Peter Singer. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 1985. Pp. vii, 228. There is a limit to the burden of dependence which any com- munity can carry. If we attempt to keep all handicapped in- fants alive, irrespective of their future prospects, we will have to give up other things which we may well regard as at least equally important.... The amount needed to care for one pa- tient. . . could be used to save the lives of a score of children suffering from malnutrition in less well-developed countries.' I. INTRODUCTION Advances in medical technology can save the lives of se- verely handicapped infants, who, only several years ago, would have died within a few days of birth. But saving these lives is not without cost. In their book, Should the Baby Live? The Problem of Handicapped Infants, authors Helga Kuhse and Pe- ter Singer examine the emotional strains put upon a family with a severely handicapped child as well as the financial burdens of expensive medical and institutional care, usually put upon soci- ety. The authors also expose the medical practice of sometimes just letting a severely handicapped infant die. The authors illus- trate these problems with several studies and case histories which are discussed in Part II of this book note. In Part III, the solutions suggested by the authors are presented and analyzed. II. THE BURDEN CAUSED BY THE SEVERELY HANDICAPPED A. Emotional Burdens The authors propose that the survival of a handicapped child is also the creation of a handicapped family.'2 This is sup- ported by several studies of families with a severely handicapped child. Raising a handicapped child puts a devastating strain on 1. H. KUHSE & P. SINGER, SHOULD THE BABY LIVE? THE PROBLEM OF HANDICAPPED INFANTS 170, 171 (1985) [hereinafter KUHSE]. 2. Id. at 146.

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