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Just six months ago, Robbie and Susan Goodrich of Marquette, Mich., were expecting their second child.
Now Robbie Goodrich is the single father of two young children as he mourns the death of his wife while some two dozen women visit his house in shifts to breast-feed his infant son.
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Nursing Moses
Robbie Goodrich, center, and his 6-month-old son Moses, surrounded by some of the women in the community who are wet nursing Moses, at Goodrich's home in Marquette, Michigan.
Susan Tusa, Detroit Free Pres / MCT
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Life turns on a dime, Goodrich realizes, but this crosses the border into surreal. "I've spent the past few months getting used to the fact that this is reality now," he said.
He certainly never expected to become famous. Yet his story has been written up in everything from his hometown newspaper, The Mining Journal, to the June 15 edition of People magazine. Reporters keep calling him for quotes. At least six television producers have approached him about starring in a reality show.
"It would be a really boring show," Goodrich said.
Besides, he said, there's no way he would be put his infant son, 2-year-old daughter, and 11-year-old stepdaughter through that media meat grinder. "It doesn't care who you are," Goodrich said in an interview with ParentDish. "You're just a commodity."
The idea of two dozen women taking turns breast-feeding a widower's baby is apparently a sensation.
But Goodrich said it all began in a blur. He and his wife were professors at Northern Michigan University. He taught history, and she taught modern languages and literature. Susan Goodrich died Jan. 11 from an amniotic fluid embolism after giving birth to their son, Charles Moses Martin Goodrich (called simply Moses).
No words can describe how he felt, Goodrich said. "It was pure blackness."
Both Goodrich and his wife were strong advocates of breast-feeding. Laura Janowski, a family friend who was already nursing her own 4-month-old daughter, asked if he would like her to breast-feed Moses as well. Almost instinctively, Goodrich said, he answered yes.
Marquette is a college town of about 20,000 on the shore of Lake Superior in what Goodrich said is not so much rural as "rugged." The community is close. Everyone knows everyone else -- or least knows someone who knows someone. Plus, as a professor, Goodrich has a high profile.
His story spread quickly. Susan Goodrich's best friend, Nicoletta Fraire, took charge of organizing the team. Now some 25 women drop by the house to either nurse Moses personally or provide pumped breast milk. They've become a community.
"They don't just drop by for five minutes and leave," Goodrich said. "These are loving, nurturing women. They're proud of what they're doing. They're proud of the community, and they're proud of their new micro-community."
Team member Carrie Fiocchi told the Savannah Morning News in Georgia on Aug. 17 she realizes Moses isn't her baby, but the bond is inescapable. "He definitely feels like family."
"I felt like I was doing this for Susan," team member Kyra Fillmore said in the same article. "It's really emotional because, while it's nice to hold a newborn, I think to myself, 'It shouldn't be me.'"
Although the women's love for his son touches him, Goodrich said it is bittersweet for him. "Every moment of joy has sorrow in it." He still grieves the loss of his wife, but tries to put on as brave a face as possible. "The crying goes on in private," he said.
He echoes Fillmore's feelings about the breast-feeding. "It's a reminder of the loss," he said. "They're doing something that Susan would do."
Goodrich said all the publicity makes him and the women in his newfound extended family a little uneasy -- especially him. "They're the ones doing something special."
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ReaderComments (Page 7 of 18)
10-15-2009 @ 1:58PM
2magnum said...all you negative people please get a life. 1St off aid can't be transmitted though milk. 2nd its a wonderful human reaction to want to bond. This man is lucky that all these Godly women are doing as directed. Raise the little one's. It does take a village to place a child on the right path..God bless you woman your a rare breed apart...
Reply
9-20-2009 @ 10:24PM
adam said...is all this really that big a deal? i mean wtf there as to be more interesting things going on than a baby that will one day be a pro at pleasing ladies.
Reply
9-20-2009 @ 9:59PM
Lillian said...maybe in civilization before it was acceptable.. but in the 21st century with all these diseases around, i wouldnt let my child be breastfed from another woman. you do not kno if the woman has hiv/aids. you're just better off getting formula and doing it that way..
Reply
9-21-2009 @ 7:55AM
gregsnewgirl said...just another idiotic comment from a man
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9-20-2009 @ 9:57PM
Alex said...I think this is a great deed, but maybe the milk should also be given strictly in a bottle by the father.
However, I also need to say this. What a lucky baby !!!
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9-20-2009 @ 10:07PM
Gail said...My daughter refused formula, a bottle and a pacifier. I breastfed her until she was able to use a cup at twelve months of age. No, it is not better for a baby to be fed with a bottle - they can get too much air, the nipples on the bottle don't always deliver the milk properly, the bottles need to be cleaned very well, they need to be heated (which takes time) and when a baby is hungry, they want to eat right away - they don't want to have to wait for you to mix up a bottle and heat it. When I have babysat children who used formula, most of them were pretty upset by the time they got their bottle. When you're breastfeeding, you know the signs of hunger and offer them their meal right away - must less stressful on everyone!!
9-20-2009 @ 9:49PM
Christy said...Did any of you talking bad about this read that it was the mother's best friend that organized this? I doubt she would have picked any drug user or diseased person to help breastfeed her best friend's child. I think the story is touching, and it's wonderful that there are so many people out there to help. Yes, the women could just pump, and the father could feed with a bottle, but it has also been proven that babies that have that one on one contact through breastfeeding are better adjusted emotionally as they grow up.
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9-21-2009 @ 2:03PM
Tom said...Sounds good to me. Nursin is so natural and healthy the babies are more immune to more stuff going around.Nobody has time to nurse babies today. I wish there wer more like these.
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9-20-2009 @ 9:52PM
Carey said...All fine and dandy that these people want to help. But when a baby breast feeds from his/her mother, it's to nurture the baby and keep him/her fed, but there is also a bond that occurs between mother and child. When I needed a break from breast feeding my three kids, my husband would bottle feed them and that gave them a chance to bond. Why isn't the father just having these women donate their milk and feed the baby thru a bottle? Is he creating any kind of bond with his child? Does he really think his wife would want somebody else to breast feed their child? Maybe it's selfish of me, but if I died, I'd prefer if my husband bottle fed.
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9-20-2009 @ 9:55PM
Shannon said...I can't believe that all the comments questioning sanity - i.e. what about diseases, hygiene, eating and drinking habits of each of these wet nurses - have been marked so low! Where is the common sense? These are questions that should be addressed - you don't just let a bunch of women drop by and whip it out and wrap the story up as "heartwarming" without considering these major issues. "Nice" or not, it's a bit over the top!
Reply
9-20-2009 @ 9:59PM
Lizzie said...This story is amazing. ladies gathering together to help raise a baby and nurse him is amazing to me. i don't have anything against this. As a child of a widower i know how hard it is to raise your young children without the mother. i have lived through it this year. what these ladies are doing is helping that father. Breast milk is amazing for the health of the child, even more so than the powder. im sure the father didnt just let anyone breast feed his child.
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9-21-2009 @ 2:32AM
malinda said...Its amazing how the little mom instinct pops in when a child is in need. This is a lucky little boy to have so many loving woman in his life.
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9-20-2009 @ 10:11PM
Kristina said...All you idiots out there talking crap about this and saying "What about formula?" are ignorant, dumbass people. You need to educate yourselves before saying some stupid crap. If you were smart and beautiful like this father and the women (who are mothers themselves since you've all missed that part) who are nursing that good looking boy, you'd know and be amazed by the fact that BREAST MILK HAS OVER 400 NUTRIENTS THAT CAN NEVER BE REPLICATED IN ANY LAB. That's why all the kids that are fed your "wonderful" formula are always getting sick or are obese. Hey, did you see the picture of one of the women who is nursing the boy? She has her two kids next to her. They don't look like they have AIDS or any other diseases. They look like happy, healthy BREAST FED kids.
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9-20-2009 @ 10:09PM
peach0604 said...If we want to heal the world, then this is the way we need to move toward it. Less selfishness, more community and caring- operating out of a place of love.
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9-20-2009 @ 10:09PM
Jessica said...I think it's sad how many people there are out there who are naive enough to think that you can be any more certain of the trustworthiness of some drug company's formula that is manufactured in Mexico or China or wherever - and everyone through whose hands it has passed - than you can of women in your community and circle of friends. Wake up. That crap is found to be contaminated all the time.
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9-20-2009 @ 10:05PM
Dorothy said...Wow. Everday we see stories on the news about the lowest things humans are capable of. Then there is this.
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9-20-2009 @ 10:10PM
Eloise said...For God's sake stop letting these women feed your son, I agree with some of the other women on here . These women could be carring some kind of underlying disease and do they wash and disinfect their breast before feeding< I totaly agree it is nasty, No matter how good there intention's are.There is perfectly great and healthy formula's out there. I nursed 8 children of my own and would never of liked someone else nursing my babie's. Please stop it now. For the sake of your son. I am now 72 year's old and cannot believe some of the stuff I read any more. What is this world coming to.Good intention's or not , It is not a healthy thing to do.
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9-20-2009 @ 10:07PM
Acrpntr said...I hope all of the women have been tested for HIV, hepatitis and drug use. If so, then great! This little guy should end up with the immune system of Hercules.
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9-20-2009 @ 10:12PM
Jessica said...I'm appalled at how many people seem to believe that bonding can only happen by way of feeding. One of Dad's most important jobs is to teach his child that love and comfort do not necessarily have to come through food.
Wet-nursing is better than formula. If all of you people want to chip in and pay for the $90 per bottle milk that is screened through a milk bank, you should pony up the money first before starting with your holier-than-thou suggestions of screening.
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9-20-2009 @ 10:13PM
Jane said...To Eloise and the others saying it's not healthy:
The World Health Organization begs to differ. I think I'll go with their advice over that of some random undereducated individuals on the internet who can't even complete a sentence in proper English!
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