Grieving For More Than One Child

One of a series of leaflets published by The Compassionate Friends What could bring greater heartbreak for a parent than the death of their dearly loved child? The answer, sadly, is the death of more than one child. This leaflet is written for parents who have faced the tragedy of losing more than one child – whether sequentially or at the same time, no matter what the circumstances, the ages of their children or babies, or whether they have other surviving children. We hope that in reading this leaflet, you might feel a little less alone in the pain of your grief. (For parents who have lost babies before or immediately after birth, we recommend The Compassionate Friends (TCF) leaflet Grieving for Our Baby .) Grief multiplied exponentially The death of a child is widely accepted as one of the most difficult bereavements to cope with. We do not expect to outlive our children; it seems to contradict the laws of nature. As bereaved parents we suffer a bewildering turmoil of emotions, including perhaps intense sorrow, confusion, anger, regret or guilt. We might lose our self-confidence or our ability to concentrate. We might find ourselves either eating for comfort or barely eating at all. We might be unable to sleep or to find peace of mind. Our sense of loss is profound. Many of our expectations, hopes and dreams for the future are ended, and our world has changed forever. Our family will never be complete again, and every relationship within it has changed. As parents, we may have the extra challenge of trying to cope with our own grief while supporting other surviving children, Grieving for More than One Child