Parents' rejection of their appearance-impaired newborns: Some critical observations regarding the social myth of bonding

Based on a six-year fieldwork in Israeli hospitals, this paper focuses on the reactions of parents to their appearance-impaired newborn, suggesting that the majority of parents are apt to abandon their child as a result of an external deformity. It is further found that visible impairments, however slight and curable, are likely to cause rejection, while often more medically severe internal problems do not. On the basis of these findings, which are shown to cut across ethnic, economical and educational categories, several possible explanations are considered. It is suggested that in the absence of any other information, the extreme significance of appearance in the case of the newborn may produce, when deviating from the expected body-image, a cognitive dissonance powerful enough so as to result in the stigmatifation of the appearance-impaired child as a “non-person,” and hence lead to his/her rejection. The paper concludes with an outline of practical implications for family psychologists, therapists and the medical professions.