Parents of children with Congenital Heart Defects can be overwhelmed by the situations they find themselves facing. There is, however, somewhere you can go for support and non-medical advice from other parents that have children with Congenital Heart Defects.

A group of parents, all of whom have kids with some sort of heart defect, have gotten together and formed the CONGENITAL HEART DEFECT SUPPORT GROUP. This world-wide group's purpose is to support one another through all the trials and tribulations of having kids facing sometimes life-threatening heart related medical situations. Most of us have never met face-to-face. We correspond by e-mail, on a daily basis. There are currently over 300 families on the list, with kids whose conditions range from Ventricular Septal Defects to Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome, Single Ventricle to Tetrology of Fallot, Heart Transplants and more. There are also pregnant moms-to-be on the list, who have been told they are carrrying a child with a heart defect.

We would like to offer our support to all families dealing with a child that has a congenital heart defect. There are no dues, no cost involved (other than the requirement of having internet access) and a LOT of benefits to be derived from knowing that you are not "alone" when facing the future. Again, we offer no medical advice, just the support and caring of other families who are in the same situation.

The Congenital Heart Defect Support Group can be found on the internet at: http://www.strata.ca/pdheart

More information about Congenital Heart Defect support groups can be found at The Childrens Health Information Network at: http://www.tchin.org

Jennifer McIntosh Member of the Congenital Heart Defect Support Group. Mom to Rylie, VSD repaired 2-20-96, residual VSD, and Ian, heart healthy E-mail me at jmcintosh@webtv.net