Four years on dad continues to prevent mom left disabled by childbirth complications from seeing triplets. He worries kids might one day blame themselves. (Video)

Personally (obviously).... the mother cannot perform any role in the raising of the children which is unfortunate... The rearing of the children should be left to the father, or the court could appoint someone as guardian for them.

Dad was not the one who took all the risks by conceiving and carrying this pregnancy. Shame on him for divorcing her and cutting off all contact.

Any mother who has experienced complications during pregnancy or childbirth--whether or not she utilized assisted reproductive technology or carried multiples--will cry while reading this story, thinking "that could have been me."

Not being able to physically care for your children is painful enough, but to be denied even occasional visits with them is absolutely heartbreaking! If there is a possibility that she can see and hear, even if her physical responses do not seem to represent conscious behavior, then she deserves some time with her kids.

Even if she were in an unquestionable vegetative state--with no way to process sensory input, making the visits useless to her personally--to keep the kids away from a mother who never harmed them is absurd. This is not some abusive neglectful libertine who deserves to lose all contact with her kids, but a woman who ended up disabled by chance. They should know their mom, and know that she loves them, even if she cannot play with them or care for them physically.

The argument that the kids will be disturbed by these visits also angers me. Keeping them away teaches them it is OK to fear and ostracize people with disabilities.

When we see a person with a deformity, disability, or mental disorder out in public, I do not simply tell my son not to stare or point and end the subject there. I explain that person's situation to him, talk about various reasons that person may be using a wheelchair, or need a helper to feed him, or have a head that is shaped differently, etc. We discuss how wonderful it is that this person can go to a restaurant or the park just like everyone else, because everyone deserves to enjoy life, and everyone has feelings that can be hurt. I also remind him how lucky we are to have bodies that work properly.

Guess what, Dad? The kids will eventually learn about their mother no matter what you do. You may think you are sheltering them and keeping them from feeling guilty, but all you are doing is magnifying how bad Mom's situation is. Now instead of growing up accepting a disabled mom as part of life, and recognizing that no one is guaranteed a perfect existence, they may be even more distraught at her plight when they learn about it, and may feel guilty for not having visited her. You should be teaching them that they did nothing wrong, and that Mom's condition was an unavoidable tragedy that could even happen to a mother who lost too much blood after delivering a naturally-conceived singleton.