In the “Afterward” to this story in the second edition of Bloodchild and Other Stories, Butler discusses how she created Duryea-Gode Disease as a composite from a variety of illnesses, including Huntington’s disease, which strikes in middle age; phenoylketonuria, which is treated with a restrictive diet; and Lesch-Neyhan disease, which leads to mental decline and self-harm. To that composite, she also added the “sensitivity to pheromones” and the “sufferer’s persistent delusion that they are trapped” (69-70).

This amalgamation of illnesses allows Butler to highlight and explore a variety of ways in which illnesses impact individuals and how institutions and society can improve or worsen outcomes for sufferers. First, we see that DGDs experience their illness directly and individually, not just through the progression of the illness but also through the restrictive lifestyle they must adhere to slow down that progression. For DGDs, even small mistakes can hasten their deterioration and shorten their lives. Moreover, the knowledge that their condition will lead to suffering and a short life has severe impacts on mental health. There seems to be little attention paid to the psychological needs of those with DGD due to social stigma, and it appears that attempted suicide and suicidal ideation are common among DGDs.