This case is stomach-churning, no doubt. And why on the Earth the husband impregnated her for a 5th time is baffling. I guess denial ain't just a river.
Not having had any children, I can’t speak directly about post-partum depression but I did have infertility treatments that included several months of birth control pills – hormones (to regulate and balance my cycle) followed by infertility drugs – more hormones. Hormones have powerful effects both physically and mentally.
During treatment, one day my husband came home and I very calmly told him I felt like destroying something, breaking dishes or punching a hole in the wall then I told him I felt like killing something, a bug, a mouse, something, anything….think PMS on steroids.
I truly did not feel like myself. I wasn’t angry at any person or at any one thing but everything in general and nothing at all – I just felt like destroying something. I felt some kind of unspecific, undirected rage that I never felt before or since - thank goodness. It passed but it scared the hell out of both of us.
If I’d acted out in any manner, I should have been held accountable as Andrea Yates should be – nothing is an ascuse for what she did to her children but to a much lesser extent, I can understand the loss of reason and control.
But like you, I’d like to know the husband’s contribution, role and accountability for this. He knew her problems after the 4th child and yet impregnated her a 5th time (bad judgment on his part) and then didn’t even see fit to supervisor her, not leave her alone with the children or follow up to make sure she got the help she needed knowing her history of suicide attempts and depression. Perhaps he is not accountable for the murders but he is at least guilty of being oblivious to the obvious.
"This case is stomach-churning, no doubt. And why on the Earth the husband impregnated her for a 5th time is baffling. I guess denial ain't just a river."
I absolutely agree. He needs to be accountable, too, as his actions either enabled or contributed towards this tragedy. Why a husband and father would leave his obviously unstable wife alone with his children is beyond me. As for her insanity, I agree that she was likely insane at the time of the drownings, but she made choices that led to the deterioration of her mental condition, and made these choices when she was presumably stable.