Inconceivable is the story of a couple who became pregnant with the wrong embryo. Early on, we learn that church and religion had played central roles in the lives of Carolyn and Sean Savage. When faced with their health crisis, their church became a source of both support and additional pain.
On page 37 we meet Father Cardone. The first two things he said to the Savages after the mistake are "I cannot imagine what you are going through right now...." and "[D]on't think too far in advance right now or it will be overwhelming." Spot on.
On the next page, Father Cardone said, "Science is not the enemy." For Carolyn, this was an important insight.
Many patients undergo high-tech procedures and/or receive man-made therapies that lead to irreversible loss, chronic pain or other distress. If unanticipated, they may blame science for their suffering.
In the case of the Savages, the problem was not the science but the human error due to a breakdown in procedures that could have prevented the mistake. Given the tension related to their Church's stance on IVF, this insight helped Carolyn as she began her healing.
For survivors facing serious challenges after sophisticated treatment, the problem is not that science is bad but that researchers and clinicians still have much to learn. Either the risks of treatment outweighed the risks of not proceeding or the prescribing physicians made a poor judgment. Either way, science is not the problem.
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