Full Idea
Few women see a spontaneous abortion or early miscarriage as the same thing as having a child who is stillborn or who dies very soon after birth.
Gist of Idea
Most women see an early miscarriage and a late stillbirth as being very different in character
Source
Bernard Williams (Ethics and the Limits of Philosophy [1985], Ch. 6)
Book Reference
Williams,Bernard: 'Ethics and the Limits of Philosophy' [Fontana 1985], p.112
A Reaction
This implies a theory about the nature of what is lost. Everyone sees the difference between potential and actual.