Dear Michael, I know exactly how you feel. I was 19 years old when I had my daughter, Kayleigh, and she was diagnosed with CAH in the salt-wasting form. I was devastated to be told directly afer delivery that there was something seriously wrong with my child and she had to be transported to Albany Medical Center Hospital for testing. Actually, they would not even refer to my daughter as a male or a female until after genetic tests were done. So for 6 days I waited. All of the other babies in the nursery had signs on their cubicles that had their name on them and a picture of a little boy or girl. My baby's had nothing. Even her binder said Miller child on it, not her name. At the hospital that I gave birth at, an employee had read her file, and ran around town telling people that my baby was a hermaphrodite, assuming that was what ambiguous genitalia meant. On the 6th day was when she went into her first adrenal crisis. All of the DNA test results were not back yet, however the specialist knew from the symptoms, what was wrong. So she was put on steroid replacement therapy. I was 19 years old, one year out of high school, did not even know "the real world", and now I had a "sick" baby to take care of, as well as all the rumors flying around town about what was wrong with my baby. Like you I expected this perfect life for my child. Well, just to let you know, you will get used to it. It made me grow up very quickly but it also made me a better and stronger person. Even though, I know I will never be as strong as little Kayleigh. She has more willpower and drive to succeed than any other four year old that I've known and I know that this is because of her disorder. She is as close to perfect that anybody could ever get. In fact, she is closer to perfect than me, someone who is perfectly healthy. Looking at her, you would never know that she has something wrong. Things will get better, they will not go away, but you will become stronger and adjust. Jamie Miller