The Forgotten mothered

Since the birth of the Dionne Quintuplets in northern Ontario on May 28 1934 millions of words and thousands of photographs about them have been shared around the world but few are in praise of their mother Elzire Legros Dionne Lauded at one time as The Most Famous Mother in the World the person who gave birth to Yvonne Annette C cile Marie and milie is almost entirely absent from the literature She is indeed the forgotten mother Elzire was barred from touching her daughters at their birth by the attending physician Doctor Allan Roy Dafoe At four months the quintuplets were raised by nurses in a special hospital built by the Ontario government at the request of the doctor Until the five girls were returned to their family at the age of nine the Dionne parents and their eight other children had limited contact with them The family lived together until the girls eighteenth birthday but sadly the tragic alienation between mother and daughters was inescapable and irrevocable This fictional account of the life of Elzire Legros Dionne brings one of the most important characters in this Canadian tragedy out of the shadows Elzire s loving relationships with her other children and the esteem of those who knew her best contrasts strongly with opposing viewpoints of the doctors politicians and the quintuplets themselves as they recount their version of this complicated story The Forgotten Mother La M re Oublie paints a portrait of a young mother caught up in the attention of the whole world betrayed by the government sworn to protect her family callously treated by the doctor who saved the lives of heraughters and ignored by the Catholic Church she turned to for help The Forgotten Mother La Mere Oublie.