Essential Reading for Replacement Children & Health Professionals

Mother with Children
Photo by Benjamin Manley

As we are celebrating one year of the Replacement Child Forum and the growing of our community, we are proud to be able to offer with permission of Elsevier, the original article by A.C. Cain & B.S. Cain (1964), On Replacing a Child,  which appeared 1964 in the Journal of American Academy of Child Psychiatry, 3, pp. 443–456.

Kristina Schellinski

When researching for our book, “ Replacement Children: The Unconscious Script”, it was extremely difficult, actually next to impossible, to find studies focused on this population of children born after a loss. Very surprising when you realize the vast number of individuals this experience affects and will continue to affect! The Cain & Cain study brought much needed awareness to the consequences for the child whose parents, when experiencing an overwhelming amount of stress from a situation that exceeded one’s ability to cope, made normal functioning extremely challenging. The echoes of this pain are detected in the lives of the children. Their study was an important jumping off place when interviewing the firsthand stories for our book. 

Rita Battat

Finding the Cain & Cain study was a revelation for me as I researched Replacement Child – a memoir. In fact, it led to the title of the book since I had never heard of the term before. It was my first step to understanding myself and my own story and knowing I was not alone.

Judy L. Mandel

To read “On Replacing a Child“, click here.