My Own Blood

Mothering under normal circumstances takes all you have to give. But what happens when your child is disabled, and sacrificing all you’ve got and more is the only hope for a decent future? When their second child, Alexander, is diagnosed with a rare genetic disorder, doctors tell Ashley Bristowe and her husband that the boy won’t walk or talk - that he is profoundly disabled. Ashley researches a disorder so new it’s just been named - Kleefstra Syndrome - and she finds little hope and a maze of obstacles. My Own Blood is an uplifting story, but it never shies away from the devastating impact of a baby that science couldn’t predict and medicine couldn’t help. An honest account of a woman’s life turned upside down.