The myth of the irrational parent

Will parents really do anything to save their child?

This article by Zoe Williams in the Guardian today is just another in a long line of articles about the case of Charlie Gard saying exactly the same thing.

The accepted message is:

• The doctors are dispassionate and able to accept that the child is desperately ill and there is nothing to be done.
• The parents are desperate to save their child at any cost, will do anything at all to save him and are behaving in an irrational way; however this is okay because any parent would do the same.

When physicians say "No"

Your next steps

This post is for parents who find themselves in the situation of being told that treatment will not be offered to their child even though they think that treatment is in their child's best interests.

This is likely to be the experience of most families who want invasive treatments for a child with trisomy 18 in the UK.