[The life of parents with handicapped children]

Based on personal experience and the results of a survey among 78 families, the author analyses the psychological, social and economical consequences of severe mental retardation for the parents of the sick child. The most important consequences are psychological and socio-economic: guilt feelings, social isolation and risk of parental separation. The disclosure of the child's handicap yields to various reactions: psychological shock at first, then denial of the handicap, depression, followed in some parents with acceptance and fear for the future of their child after their own death.