Then he looked at me and said, “I spent eleven years imagining her growing up. Now every time I look at her, all I can think about is losing her.”
I told him that she was still our daughter and that we would love her for however much time we were given.
But Daniel was terrified.
“What if someone else is better prepared to care for her than we are?” he finally asked.
I stared at him.
“You want to give her away?”
He immediately started crying.
“I don’t want to give her away. I just don’t know if I’m strong enough to love her while waiting for the day we lose her.”
For days, I refused to discuss it.
But fear slowly entered my own thoughts too.
What if I wasn’t strong enough either?
What if Sophie needed more than we could give her?
During another hospital appointment, a social worker explained that there were specialized care arrangements for families who genuinely felt unable to continue.
