That Only a Mother

Infobox short story |
name = That Only a Mother
author = Judith Merril
country = flag|USA
language = English
series =
genre = Science fiction short story
published_in =
publication_type =
publisher =
media_type = Print (Magazine)
pub_date = 1948
followed_by =

"That Only a Mother" is a science fiction short story by Judith Merril, originally published in 1948. "That Only a Mother" was among the stories selected in 1970 by the Science Fiction Writers of America as one the best science fiction short stories of all time. As such, it was published in "The Science Fiction Hall of Fame Volume One, 1929-1964".

Plot summary

The story is set some time after 1947, and radiation poisoning has led to a rash of mutated babies (it is implied that only a small fraction of pregnancies result in the birth of normal children). The first part of the story is told in the form of letters from the pregnant Margaret to her husband Hank, a "technical lieutenant," on assignment. In these letters we learn of Margaret's fears of giving birth to a mutant, disturbing tales of infanticide by the fathers of deformed babies, her successful labor, and the rapid development of the newborn. The daughter, named Henrietta, is extremely precocious, speaking in complete sentences by the time she first meets her father at the age of ten months. Margaret dotes on her and thinks she is wonderful, though there are hints of something disturbing about the girl, including the story's title and an offhand comment that the nurses in the hospital were not sure whether she was a boy or girl.

When Hank returns home, he discovers that his daughter has no arms or legs, and that his wife is in such strong denial that she does not realize she has given birth to a mutant. In the closing lines of the story, it is strongly implied that Hank murders the child.