ABSTRACT
When new parents are suddenly confronted by major changes in themselves or their partners, the passage to parenthood becomes less a transition than a transformation. Before childbirth, husband and wife may have “known” themselves, but in the tunnel of turbulence at the boundary of birth and parenthood, they may no longer be able to predict their moods or behavior. For those not unduly stressed, a new equilibrium will likely be reached. Others, however, experience a different result; after a period of turmoil, they seem to have changed radically. Altered values or morality, new and uncontrollable addictions, or construction of novel professional or social identities may occur.
