23 Weeks 6 Days

When Kelley Benham and her husband Tom French finally got pregnant, after many attempts and a good deal of technological help, everything was perfect. Until it wasn't. Their story raises questions that, until recently, no parent had to face… and that are still nearly impossible to answer. This hour, which we first released in 2013, we spend the entire episode on the story of Kelley and Tom, whose daughter was born at 23 weeks and 6 days, roughly halfway to full term. Their story contains an entire universe of questions about the lines between life and death, reflex and will, and the confusing tug of war between two basic moral touchstones: doing no harm...and doing everything in our power to help. Kelley has written about her experience in a brilliant series of articles in the Tampa Bay Times.  If you want to know more about what we talk about in the update tacked onto the end of this episode, check out the links below:  - This Photo Here (https://zpr.io/ZvMD42u9hzuu) - Plus This Video Here (https://zpr.io/8ewZUD368TzP) Check out the book that Tom and Kelley wrote about Juniper here: - Juniper: The girl who was born too soon. (https://zpr.io/8ewZUD368TzP) And when you're done listening to the episode, be sure to check out the video below--but be warned, it does contain spoilers.  - 23 Weeks 6 Days Video **EPISODE CREDITS:** Reported by Jad Abumrad Produced by Matt Kielty and Jad Abumrad Update produced by Pat Walters and Anisa Vietze with mixing help from Jeremy Bloom   *Sign up for our newsletter!! It includes short essays, recommendations, and details about other ways to interact with the show.* Signup *(https://radiolab.org/newsletter)!* *Radiolab is supported by listeners like you. Support Radiolab by becoming a member of* The Lab *(https://members.radiolab.org/) today.* *Follow our show on* Instagram*,* Twitter *and* Facebook *@radiolab, and share your thoughts with us by emailing* [*radiolab@wnyc.org*](mailto:radiolab@wnyc.org)*.* *Leadership support for Radiolab’s science programming is provided by the Simons Foundation and the John Templeton Foundation. Foundational support for Radiolab was provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.*   Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.