S.F. Reeling as Search for 2 Boys Goes On (Los Angeles Times)

[Newsguy]

Los Angeles Times - SAN FRANCISCO — The mother accused of drowning her three young boys in San Francisco Bay said the day of the killings that she would "feed them to the sharks," but family members didn't think she was serious, a sister said Thursday.

http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/latimests/20051021/ts_latimes/sfreelingassearchfor2boysgoeson

[fuzzis]

I have been unable to get this story out of my head. I checked this morning and couldn't find an update on whether they'd found the bodies of the two boys yet.

I can't quite imagine the hell this is for the family, how awful and guilty they must be feeling, asking themselves if there was anything they could have done differently.

The other thing I keep thinking about is having children when you are mentally ill. I wonder and worry about the irresponsibility (not sure that's the right word but it's the best that I can think of) of having children when you could potentially pass on such illness or when you could potentially hurt them because of your own illness.

I have a friend who recently had a baby who is in that position. The pregnancy was unplanned (she was on the pill), and she'd always been adamant that she would not have children. She'd been trying to find a doctor who would do a tubal for her, but because of her age, and the fact that she'd not had a child, no one was willing to do it. She struggled with severe depression throughout the pregnancy, and it was only worse after Ollie was born. She's since given custody to her parents, although she's living in the home with them and Ollie, involved in his life. She's terrified of what she's passed on to him (the family history is long and sad) and what she might do to him if she's left alone with him.

I don't know if what she's done is the right answer or not.

fuzzis

[gine]

The family should have intervened and these kids would not be dead. I also wonder about the people that called 911? Did they actually see throwing the kids? Did they try to stop her?

Tragic.

[happydamyankee]

I used to know a family that had twins with schitzophrania (sp?) and in both cases it was triggered by giving birth. One of the twins had two kids, medication does nothing for her, and she is not allowed around her kids at all. Both of her children at the ages of 10 and 13 are showing signs of mental illness. The other twin has a daughter who at this time appears to be ok but if she follows her mothers footsteps will be ok until she has children. She has spent most of her life with her grandmother but has contact with her mother on a regular basis. This twin is ok as long as she takes her meds. The thing is the children are all protected from being harmed by thier mothers by other their grandmother and the courts why weren't these babies protected. She was diagnosed as mentally ill she never should have had the opportunity to kill her babies. It makes me apsolutely ill when I think of those three babies it's like no one cared enough for them to make sure they were safe from thier ill mother, and sadly no one will probably pay for their deaths.

[fuzzis]

sadly no one will probably pay for their deaths.

I really don't know how some one could "pay" for those deaths.

If the mother is placed in state care (which I gather is probably what will happen) and if she is medidcated to the point of "normalcy" (whatever that is), I would imagine that the hell she'll put herself through is more punishment than the state could ever exact. By all accounts, she cared for her children. Not having had children myself, I can't imagine how torturous it would be to know that you are the one responsible for your children's deaths.

fuzzis

[Sir Mickey Mouse]

I have been unable to get this story out of my head. I checked this morning and couldn't find an update on whether they'd found the bodies of the two boys yet.

I can't quite imagine the hell this is for the family, how awful and guilty they must be feeling, asking themselves if there was anything they could have done differently.

The other thing I keep thinking about is having children when you are mentally ill. I wonder and worry about the irresponsibility (not sure that's the right word but it's the best that I can think of) of having children when you could potentially pass on such illness or when you could potentially hurt them because of your own illness.

I have a friend who recently had a baby who is in that position. The pregnancy was unplanned (she was on the pill), and she'd always been adamant that she would not have children. She'd been trying to find a doctor who would do a tubal for her, but because of her age, and the fact that she'd not had a child, no one was willing to do it. She struggled with severe depression throughout the pregnancy, and it was only worse after Ollie was born. She's since given custody to her parents, although she's living in the home with them and Ollie, involved in his life. She's terrified of what she's passed on to him (the family history is long and sad) and what she might do to him if she's left alone with him.

I don't know if what she's done is the right answer or not.

fuzzis

That really is a sad situation. There is always someone, somewhere who is wanting a child. That woman in San Franscisco could have done anything... I can't believe she wanted to feed them to the sharks!

[fuzzis]

That really is a sad situation. There is always someone, somewhere who is wanting a child. That woman in San Franscisco could have done anything... I can't believe she wanted to feed them to the sharks!

I would venture to say that she really didn't want to feed her children to the sharks...much like Andrea Yates probably didn't *really* want to drown her children. Mental illness is funny like that.

fuzzis