r, w = os.pipe()
pid = os.fork()

if pid == 0:
    # child
    result = ctypes_fn()
    os.write(w, pickle.dumps(result))
    os.close(w)
else:
    # parent
    os.waitpid(pid, 0)
    result = os.read(r, 524288) # can be this big
    os.close(r)

    return pickle.loads(result)

#parent
while waitpid(pid, WNOHANG) == (0, 0):
    result = os.read(r, 1024)
    #sleep for a short time
#at this point the child process has ended
#and you need the last bit of data from the pipe
result = os.read(r, 1024)
os.close(r)