Antonia Coello was born August 23, 1944 in Fajardo, Puerto Rico. Her mother, Ana Delia Coello, was a principal and a school teacher who raised Antonia and her two younger siblings mainly by herself due to her husband’s early death. At birth, Antonia was diagnosed with a defect called congenital megacolon, an abnormality of the large intestine. This extremely painful condition plagued Antonia throughout her childhood, as she was unable to have surgical correction until the age of 18. This situation inspired Antonia to become a pediatric doctor so that no child would have to suffer the same way she did. Antonia told the Saturday Evening Post, "I do believe some people fall through the cracks. I was one of those. I thought, when I grow up, no other person is going to wait 18 years for surgery." …show more content…
In 1965 she graduated with a Bachelor of Science. Five years later, in 1970, she graduated from the same university with her MD. Also in 1970, Antonia Coello married Joseph Novello, who was a navy flight surgeon and later became a psychiatrist and a radio talk show host. Antonia and her husband moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan so that Antonia could pursue a pediatrics internship at the University of Michigan Medical Center. One year later, she was the first woman to ever win the Department of Pediatrics Intern of the Year Award at the university. In 1973, Antonia left Michigan to study kidneys in Washington D.C., after her favorite aunt died of kidney failure. She later opened a private practice in Springfield, Virginia but she left it because she was too emotionally involved. As she told People magazine in December of 1990, "When the pediatrician cries as much as the parents do, then you know it's time to get