RJOS Supports the Pursuit of Parenthood for all Orthopaedic Surgeons

Editor’s note: This letter is in response to the article “Beyond the OR: The Alexanders ​Balance Orthopaedics and Marriage” by Cailin Conner, which was published in the February 2024 issue of AAOS Now.

We read with interest “Beyond the OR: The Alexanders Balance Orthopaedics and Marriage” in the February 2024 issue and thank A. Herbert Alexander, MD, FAAOS, and Charlotte E. Alexander, MD, FAAOS, for their perspective.

The presidential line of the Ruth Jackson Orthopaedic Society (RJOS) respects the intimate, personal, and private decision of all who choose to become parents during the course of their orthopaedic careers—as medical students, residents, fellows, or attendings. The complexities of childbearing and rearing and the realities of reproductive health and advanced parental age cannot and should not be summarized with broad, blanket statements or recommendations about when that process begins.

RJOS supports all who choose to become parents—through childbearing, surrogacy, or adoption—and is proud to provide resources about successfully navigating this decision during one’s orthopaedic career.

This letter to the editor was cosigned by the RJOS presidential line, including Jennifer M. Weiss, MD, vice president; Linda I. Suleiman, MD, secretary; Anna Cohen-Rosenblum, MD, treasurer; and Christen M. Russo, MD, FAAOS, immediate past president.

Corinna C. Franklin, MD, is president of RJOS. She is an associate professor and chief of pediatric orthopaedic surgery at the Yale University School of Medicine.