Forever Baby

“I have a darling baby. A patient placid baby who nuzzles warmly into her sheepskin and gives me a sleepy smile when I come in. She sits up, bounces happily and reaches out for a cuddle …”

“I’ve had my darling baby for nearly twenty years now and unless something happens, I guess I’ll have her for another twenty years.”

Praise for Forever Baby –

“Mary’s writing has the quality of being both a participant and an observer. As a participant in a life and death voyage, she writes with emotional force. As an observer, there are some great passages of acute observation and stark – sometimes black – humour.

“But the dominant emotion is love: love given by Mary and the Burbidge Family to their daughter Jenny; love given by Jenny to Mary and family. A special love for a special child, which we are privileged, through this book, to share.”

The Hon. Joan Kirner, former Premier of Victoria

“Some people just burn with a brighter flame, and Mary Burbidge, doctor, mother and fierce diarist, is one of them. When Mary gave birth over twenty years ago to a disabled baby girl, she began writing from the heart to make sense and meaning of her life.

“I have quoted Mary’s experience in one of my own books, but I could never have suspected the dramatic turn of events that would conclude this story. The gritty, heart-bursting world of parenting is captured in a way that I have rarely met elsewhere, but the drama, transcendence and tragedy of raising a child with a disability takes this to a deeper plane still.

“Jenny’s story and Mary’s telling of it, will grip the reader and change how they see the world around them for a very long time.”

Steve Biddulph, psychologist and author

About the author

Dr Mary Burbidge is a GP with a special interest in the areas of community medicine and developmental disability. She enjoys both writing and reading and several of her articles have been published.

Mary lives with her family in Williamstown, Victoria. She is a member of many community organisations and her other interests include playing the flute, bird watching, bike riding and camping