This essay was published on the New York Times on Sunday. It is the last public essay I will write about my son's condition. I'm grateful to Thaddeus for giving me permission to share his story. Many thanks to my editor, KJ Dell'Antonia.

Thaddeus and I have received an overwhelming number of messages of support in the past 48 hours from parents, families and advocates. Even though Thaddeus chose not to move forward with a prosthesis, the article has received widespread positive support from limb-difference support groups, prosthetic development companies, and open source 3-D printing organizations. It's amazing how people from all over can come together and recognize how beautiful we all are just the way we are. We are lucky to live in a world with access to prosthetics and, most importantly, choice.

"Is that O.K.? That I don’t want a hand?" One boy gives up a 3-D printed prosthetic for a different vision of perfect http://t.co/jR7YMLkT0z

— The New York Times (@nytimes) May 19, 2015