Several years ago, when I was in Bible college, I was summoned from my botany class to answer a phone call from my wife, Evon. "Doug," she said excitedly, "I'm pregnant." I was equally excited and didn't get much done that day in class.

The next nine months couldn't go fast enough. We were disappointed when the doctor told us the delivery would need to be induced. Still, we went to the hospital, full of anticipation, on the date scheduled. Evon's labor was hard, but at 5:15 P.M. on February 19, 1985, Joshua Ryan Herman came into the world. And despite complications in labor-Evon had hemorrhaged and received a transfusion of two units of blood-she recovered quickly, and both mother and son did fine.

The next eighteen months of family life flew by happily. Joshua was old enough to walk and talk when we received an unexpected call from Evon's OB/GYN doctor. They asked Evon to come to the office for tests. Her blood was drawn and examined.

Somehow when we met with the doctor and the infectious ...