| Popis: |
This chapter examines the existential and ethical questions raised by care for infants born with life-threatening physiological impairments. The parental narratives of infants born dying present unique illustrations of how The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) convictions of the revealed reality—including the salvific value of embodied life, parental commitment and autonomy, the eternal family relationship, and medical futility—influence medical decisions regarding life endings at the beginnings of life. These convictions support a narrative that can run contrary to the progressive and vitalistic impulse of biomedicine: children who die prior to accountability have already displayed their faithfulness in the pre-mortal life and do not need the trials for mortal life for their eternal progress. These convictions enable parents to re-story their experience of tragedy into a quest for blessing. |
