“So shines a good deed in a weary world.” – Willy Wonka (via William Shakespeare)

Buried in piles of 2009 national news stories about fathers murdering their families and mothers abandoning their infants rests a shining gem of parenting behavior that both lifts and breaks my heart.

Early in her pregnancy, Ohio resident Carolyn Savage discovered a devastating mistake had been made at her fertility clinic: She had been impregnated with embryos belonging to a Michigan couple, Shannon and Paul Morell.

Imagine yourself in the shoes of these two couples: They may have spent months or years on an emotional roller-coaster, facing obstacles and challenges just to bring a child into the world. As the Morells’ hope for conceiving a child evaporated, the Savages’ time of joyful celebration came to crashing end.

These stories are rare but always sensational. In 2004,  Susan Buchweitz was handed a $1 million settlement after her fertility doctor implanted an embryo meant for another woman, and failed to tell her until after the boy was born. The result, as reported in CNN.com’s Legal Center, was a messy custody dispute. In Great Britain, as reported by Bionews.org, a woman who received another couple’s embryo earlier this year terminated her pregnancy with the “morning after” pill, devastating the couple who called it their “last chance” to conceive.

This case feels different. Neither couple seems at all bitter or angry; both have publicly expressed nothing but concern and compassion for one another. They’ve chosen to not name the fertility clinic involved. But Carolyn Savage’s reaction amazes me most. 

Consider first that she was home with the flu when Sean broke the news, no doubt feeling poorly for many reasons. She could have just stopped taking the hormones keeping her pregnant. She could have terminated her pregnancy. Instead, she chose to focus on delivering a healthy baby, which Freep.com reports she did Thursday.

I’m sure these couples don’t think of themselves as special in any way. The Savages described the switch as the case of “a gift handed to the wrong recipient”. But they have demonstrated the most loving of spirits, remaining non-judgemental and compassionate, even to those whose mistake caused them such heartache. They have shown what it means to take full responsibility for the choices we make, as well as whatever comes next.

And in this crazy world, that’s a gift to us all.

Sources: Freep.com, CNN.com, BioNews.org