Love & Pamela

The dangerous operation might give the child a chance at normal life, but it might also kill her. Yet without the operation, she faced almost certain death within the next few years. Pamela Frances Lamphere, now 22 months old, had been born with her bladder outside her body. This rare malformation, called exstrophy, usually causes death (of urinary tract infection) before a child is five.

It was a desperately hard decision for any parent to make. In Chicago, Fred W. Lamphere and his wife, Irene, could not agree. Last week, trying to force an operation for Pamela Frances, her father brought suit against her mother. Said Mrs. Lamphere: "I live for my child. I want her as long as I can have her." Said Fred Lamphere: "I love her just as much. I want her to have a chance to live."

Each side came to court backed by medical opinion; the mother's lawyer said the child's chances to survive the operation were only one in 1,000. The father's lawyer said one in 100. The puzzled judge asked the deans of four Chicago medical schools to investigate and give him a report. Before the deans could act, Mrs. Lamphere changed her mind. Convincer: 19-month-old Christine Ulrich, who survived a similar operation, looks fine (see cut).

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