Letters, The New Yorker, Nov. 21, 2011
Re Jerome Groopman’s article “A child in time” (Oct. 24): Almost all the books on premature babies, it seems, are written in the United States. Because, as Groopman states, the average cost of delivering a premature baby is between a hundred thousand and a hundred and fifty thousand dollars, these books usually begin with advice about what to do when you lose your job, your car, and your house as you struggle with extended hospital visits and mounting bills.
Twenty-two years ago, when our daughter was born three months early, weighing one and a half pounds S.F.D. (small for date), I was in the hospital for months and had two operations. Emmaās twin had aborted a month earlier, but Emma held on to twenty-eight weeksā gestation. She was in the I.C.U. for eighty-one days, saw every type of specialist, and needed to have nine blood transfusions.
When all was said and done, we paid five dollars for the birth of our daughter ā to cover the parking. She is currently finishing her university undergraduate degree, and I am very grateful that she was born in Canada.
Lynne Milnes
Victoria, B.C.
Canada
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/letters/2011/11/21/111121mama_mail5