More in this series
What Keeps Me Up at Night: How Do I Meet My Son’s Needs If I Can’t See Them?
This is where, for me, motherhood divided into ‘Before’ and ‘After.’
This is What Genes Can’t Tell Us, a monthly column by Taylor Harris on parenting, genetics, and the quest for answers to medical riddles.
be
is.
Lethargic. Racing heart. No food. Only water. No fever.
We can see you at 9:30.
BeforeAfter.
Befoe, McSweeney’s Before
AfterAfter
After,After,Before:
I am fine, my boy is fine, we are all fine.
Before:
After
Before,
Hazard,
can
Taylor Harris is a writer living in Virginia. Her work has been featured in The Washington Post, Longreads, The Cut, McSweeney’s, and other publications. Her memoir about mothering a son with an unexplainable medical condition is forthcoming from Catapult.
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The past two years have solidified my view that America may never change enough for me.
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More Mother, Less Detective: Where I’ve Found Grace Without a Diagnosis for My Son
Not knowing happens to all mothers, and to all of us—if we are breathing, we are without escape from things we can’t know.
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Living in the “Yet”: When Genetic Tests Don’t Reveal the Answers You Seek
As a mother, I’ve had to ask myself: What would never getting an answer, or even no longer expecting an answer, look like?
Two Black Parents Walk Into a Meeting: On Race, Education, and Our Son’s IEP
I’m not just advocating for a child whose challenges don’t follow a script. I’m also a black mother advocating for my black son in a room full of people who don’t look like us.