Am I going to die when I'm twelve?: Michiel and Amber, living with progeria

'Mom, at school the grown-ups say I'll die when I'm twelve. Is that true?' Godelieve's heart breaks when she hears five-year-old Michiel ask this question. And she can't get a 'yes' out of her mouth.
Like all young women, Godelieve dreamed of a beautiful family with her great love. Two healthy children with Wim, that was her ideal. With the birth of Michiel, that dream seemed to come very close. But it soon became apparent that 'something' was wrong with Michiel. For years, they searched for the right diagnosis. The couple no longer dared to think about a second child. Eventually, Godelieve and Wim discovered for themselves that Michiel suffered from progeria, an extremely rare aging disease in which children die on average before their thirteenth birthday. Godelieve's world collapses. But she finds support from other progeria parents at home and abroad and she learns that progeria is not hereditary. After years of waiting, she becomes pregnant with a daughter. Godelieve's future regains color with the birth of Amber. Until the horrible moment when the doctors tell her that this child also suffers from progeria.
Am I going to die when I'm twelve? is the moving and inspiring story of a strong mother who, despite the hard knowledge that she will lose both her children, still manages to enjoy every day together to the fullest. The parents of Toontje and Mats, the two other children with progeria in Flanders, also tell their story in this book. Two children with progeria, the now ten-year-old Michiel himself and his British girlfriend Hayley, tell in a moving and disarming way what it is like to live with their illness and the realization that they will die young.