[Parent-child relationship in families with liver-transplantated infants]

Due to progress in transplantation medicine and especially thanks to the possibility of transplantation of a liver lobe from a living donor - usually one parent - even very small children with end-stage liver diseases are transplanted nowadays. But there is little research on how parents cope with this specific situation facing the death of their baby without transplantation during the period of transition to parenthood, how family-relationships and bonding develop after transplantation, how the infants develop mentally and emotionally and what specific psychosocial help these families would need to prevent future problems. Stimulated by clinical experiences with families with liver-transplanted infants, a pilot study with families before liver-transplantation was conducted. The aim of the study was to determine methods of infant research suitable for this clinical population. Based on case-vignettes of the interviews and the clinical work with these families, questions as to transition to parenthood, bonding and liver-transplantation by donation of a lobe of one parent's liver are discussed.