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Family Is All That Matters 92 Lyubov's sister Klara was especially adamant that the best doctors were in Moscow. Let Lyubov come to Moscow, Klara implored Iosif, and live with her. Why take a chance with anything less than the best? Lyubov was ambivalent. On the one hand, she wanted to stay with Iosif and give birth in Volsk. On the other hand, she wanted to spend time with her family and have her sisters help with the new challenges of motherhood. She and Iosif reluctantly decided that their first child would be delivered in Moscow, and Lyubov departed in late November. On December 21, 1951, Iosif received a telegram that Lyubov had gone into labor and delivered a daughter. The date of the birth was December 17. Why the delay in notifying him? He could understand a delay of one day, but three? Iosif suddenly felt very concerned. "I immediately wired Klara. 'What happened?'" Klara responded that she had been attending her sister in the hospital. And then she told Iosif the story. Lyubov had gone into labor on Sunday, a day when few doctors and nurses were on duty. She had to wait for the doctors to deal with another maternity emergency, and by the time the doctors got to her on Monday, it was too late. The baby would not come out. In desperation, the doctors resorted to a forceps delivery. The little girl was finally delivered, half dead, totally blue om lack of oxygen, and her head severely marked by the forceps. "I don't know what the doctors did, but their delay and lack of professionalism resulted in my beautiful daughter having brain damage," Iosif says bitterly. The little girl was named Yeva, aer Eve, the first woman in the world, as well as in honor of Hava, Iosif 's mother. Iosif had been especially reluctant to let Lyubov go, and now his regret and guilt were absolute. This is a decision that he regrets. "I blame myself every day for what happened," he says. Iosif immediately took the train to Moscow and went directly to the hospital. Lyubov and Yeva spent three weeks in the hospital recovering, and were discharged on New Year's Day. There was room for optimism. "Yeva was so little and so cute, wrapped in cotton, with perfect silver skin, unlike the rashes that some newborns have," Iosif says. But Iosif also knew their lives would be fundamentally altered. He didn't know to what degree, but he knew his daughter would have a significant disability, and in the Soviet Union any physical disability was a crushing burden. Above: Lyubov and Yeva in Moscow, 1954. Previous page: Yeva and Lev in Moscow, 1957. Yeva sits upon a three-wheeled bike that Iosif made for her.

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