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"They said she'd only know pain and that she wouldn'trecognize us," Linda said. "If we had placed her in ahome, she would have been like they said. Now, she's outand doing things." 15Although parents may seek to do what they thinkis best for their children, their assessment of what isbest depends on the information they have. Nondisabledparents who are suddenly confronted with thebirth of a child with a disability are not likely toenter the decisionmaking process with a backgroundof adequate and accurate information. AdrienneAsch, who teaches social psychology at the CityCollege of New York, testified:[B]ecause parents of disabled children, and especiallydisabled newborns, rarely share this minority characteristic[of being a person with a disability],. . .they are in anextremely difficult position to advocate for that infant.The parents of other children with minority characteristicscan do this much better. They know what life holds instore for that infant and their child. They can advocateagainst those who would hurt their children for thoseminority characteristics, because even though they mayknow that life is fraught with problems, it is also going tocontain various joys.But the parents of a disabled infant, moments, days afterits birth, have very little such information. In fact, they arelikely to have been given information by physicians, bysocial workers, by any other professionals, by clergy, thatreinforces whatever stereotypes they have about the limitsand deficits and tragedy of so-called defective, deformed,damaged infants. 16There seems to be near unanimity, from healthcare personnel who support as well as those whooppose denial of treatment, that in all but a handfulof cases the manner and content of the medicalprovider's presentation of the issue will be decisivein determining the parental "decision." One nursehas written:Whether and to what extent such children are treatedcan be influenced by physicians and nurses. Suppose, forexample, the staff tells the parents, "It is possible tooperate on your baby and close his back, but his legs willstill be paralyzed and deformed. Most likely he will neverhave bowel or bladder control and will probably develop15Kerr, Baby Doe's Success^/] Progress Defying Prognosis, Newsday,Dec. 7, 1987, at 2, 23.16Protection of Handicapped Newborns: Hearing Before the UnitedStates Commission on Civil Rights 125-26 (1986) (vol. II) (testimonyof Adrienne Asch, Adjunct Lecturer in Social Psychology,City College of New York). See also id. at 141 (testimony of MaryJane Owen, Director, Disability Focus, Inc.) ("Unfortunately,handicapped infants are born into alien families, families that havehydrocephalus, which may require many operations withpossible complications. Or, we can do nothing and allowhim to die." Would you be surprised if the parents optedfor death?On the other hand, a positive attitude can go a long wayin persuading parents to accept their baby. This has beenthe stance of our nursing staff. We encourage parents totouch, hold, feed, talk to, and play with their infant. Wetell them to bring in music boxes, toys, and, later, evenclothes. By focusing on the normal things the baby does,we foster a positive image of the child. For example, wemight say, "Look how strongly he sucks" and "See howtightly she holds your finger." We try to emphasize thattheir baby does things all babies do. 17One of the lead physicians involved in the selectivetreatment program at Children's Hospital ofOklahoma, 18 Dr. Richard Gross, has said: "I think ittakes a great deal of courage on the. . .[part] ofparents to say, in the face of a recommendation froma physician, that they wish to go counter to that.They certainly do not have the background at thetime the child is born to really know what isexpected." 19 Dr. Mildred Stahlman was even moredirect:I can persuade 99 percent of parents to my way of thinkingif I really work at it, even if I am 100 percent wrong. If Itell them in such a way that I appear concerned and that Iam knowledgeable and that I have their interest at heartand the interest of their. . .newborn baby, there is noquestion in my mind but that they will let me "cut off thatinfant's head." 20From a treatment perspective opposite to that of Dr.Gross, Dr. David McLone testified concerning hisexperience with parents of children with spinabifida:I have now treated about 300 newborns and had thismidnight discussion with about 300 families, and I havenot had one family, once fully informed of the availabilityand the likely outcome of treatment, who has refused tohave the back repaired at the time of birth.In my experience in the cases I am familiar with wherethe decision was made not to close the back, that decision,in essence, was made by the physician and by what he toldalready probably stated the only requirement they have of a childwas that it must be perfect. . . .").17Homer, Selective Treatment, 84 Am. J. Nursing 309, 309-10(1984).18See chap. 1 and text accompanying notes 7-15.19Take Two: Who Lives, Who Dies?—Part II (Cable NewsNetwork, Feb. 22, 1984), (Radio-TV Monitoring Service, Inc.,Transcript at 5).20Quoted in Patrick, Little Murders, 10 New Times 32, 36 (1978).29