A story of the impact of childhood chronic disease on siblings and families.

Each year, thousands of families are faced with the specter of childhood chronic disease. Despite often being labeled as “lucky ones,” childhood chronic diseases take a severe toll on the healthy brothers and sisters of the sick child. Feelings of fear, jealousy, resentment and extraordinary responsibility are common among such healthy siblings. These children and young adults can feel emotionally neglected within the family structure. Shadow Child explores all of these impacts in the context of the author’s relationship with his younger brother. Shadow Child is the story of the author’s personal experience as a healthy sibling of a brother inflicted with Type 1 Diabetes when he was four years old (preceded by Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis when he was two). The book focuses on the impact that chronic diseases such as diabetes have on the families of the inflicted child, and explores how various interfamily relationships change due to the introduction of chronic disease.

Randall S. Beach is a practicing attorney in New York’s Capital Region. He has lived as a sibling to a younger brother with Type I Diabetes for over thirty-seven years. Randall resides in Schenectady, New York with his wife and two sons.