Effect of congenital heart disease on the family: Divorce, separation, and stability in families of children with tetralogy of fallot

In the families of 40 children with surgically corrected tetralogy of Fallot there were 6 instances of marriage dissolution since the birth of the affected child. Couples remaining together had high indexes of family stability. In control families of 40 children with appendectomy, matched for age, sex, and time since surgery, the findings were similar. No differences were observed in marriage breakup or family stability between families of children with moderate disability who had a shunt operation prior to total correction and families of children with presumably milder disability who had not had a shunt operation prior to total correction. Thus, stress due to reparable tetralogy of Fallot appears to be well tolerated in the family and is associated with no more family instability or marriage dissolution than a childhood appendectomy.