Infertility Books

This is a terrific resource from two terrific doctors! Dr. Gordon was my RE and guided my husband and me through three IVF cycles which resulted in two spectacular little girls (now almost 5 and almost 3 1/2). The book provides intelligent, caring information - which is what I would expect from a doctor that is caring, kind and funny in person. Highly recommend the book, the blog and the Doctors.

What a great book! This book is a wonderful launching place for someone facing infertility and needing answers. I have already been through some treatments and learned new things reading this book. I liked that the definitions for words used in the text were right in the margin of the page. It is easy to follow, but the authors do not talk down to you. Good balance of information.

I've been having infertility issues for almost 6 years and I've purchased several on-topic books during this time. No book covers as much detailed information in as few pages at this one. I read the entire book the night I received it. The authors honestly acknowledge the frustrations accompanying the mysteries of fertility while outlining the proven medical procedures that lead to parenthood. My favorite thing about the book is that it assumes that the reader is an intelligent, resourceful patient who is approaching her infertility with a problem-solving mentality. I wish I had bought this years ago!

I have read many books on infertility. The topic can be overwhelming, just as the treatments can be. (I am in my 3rd round of IVF.) "100 Questions and Answers about Infertility" is by far the best infertility book available. First of all, Dr. Gordon makes you feel "normal" by listing all the questions you have, but might not realize everyone else also has. Then he answers them in a manner that is easy to understand, yet technical enough to help you broaden your understanding of infertility. In addition, they have patients who share their first hand experiences in the book. It's another example of how they make you feel less alone during an unchartered experience. (And yes, despite this being my 3rd round of IVF, there is always something new and scary...but this time I could just open up my book, and better understand what was going on!)
I am truly grateful that Dr. G and D wrote this book. It is the perfect handbook for anyone experiencing the trials and tribulations of infertility.

When a couple is suffering through infertility, they have a million questions. Fertility Drs. Gordon and DiMattina attempt to cover the basics in a single, reliable source with 100 Questions & Answers About Infertility.

They start with the basics: What is infertility and what does normal reproduction look like? Then they move on to infertility evaluation and treatments. Next they touch on specific problems such as Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome, Tubal Disease, Male Factor, and Endometriosis. They address treatment options, specifically Intrauterine Insemination, In Vitro Fertilization, and Third-Party Reproduction. They also answer questions regarding lifestyle (stress, exercise, etc.) in regard to reproduction, and finally they address pregnancy loss. There is also a plethora of statistical information.

If you find yourself in the throes of infertility and you are lost in the lingo, this book may be a good start. It will answer many clinical and technical questions you may have about your problem and where to start. This book will be especially helpful for those who have the conditions mentioned and those who want details on medical measures. It should also help you decide what steps you want to take in the process. The information seems, in my experience, to be accurate and up to date.

What this book won't do for you is answer the more emotional side of infertility. It won't tell you that taking Clomid might cause you to cry for weeks on end. It won't tell you that you will get pregnant. And it won't have a definitive answer for why you aren't achieving pregnancy when all the testing says there is no reason. However, this is a very informative book on many of the more common and clinical aspects of the process.

Armchair Interviews says: A book with answers to many questions some couples might have

Ark Baby is a terribly witty social parody that manages to bring together disparate elements like Darwinism, taxidermy, slave ships, rural English chruches and a modern-day fertility crisis. Jensen has an ear for language and a wonderful talent for creating vivid, memorable and very unusual characters- like the hirsuite, red-headed twins who may be the saviors of British fertility. Stylisticly, "Ark Baby" reminds me more than a little of some of my favorite English authors with a sense of dark, comic irony; both Kingsley Amis and some of the later Aldous Huxley come to mind. Think Amis' "Lucky Jim" meets Huxley's "After Many a Summer Dies the Swan".

Jensen manages to develop two different plot threads, one contempory and one 19th Century, and then brings them together for a great finish that, while not entirely unexpected, still has a few twists and turns. I was a bit reminded of Thomas Powers, who often uses this technique to great effect. But unlike Powers, who often revelas sublte and unexpected connections between his plot threads, Jensen brings hers together in a massive collision, with great comic effect.

All in a all, a terrifically enjoyable and original book.

You only have to look at Matthew Kneale's Whitbread prize winning novel English Passengers to see that evolutionary theory combined with genetics is a hot topic for English writers at the moment. As Kneale proved, it is a subject ripe for wit and farce. Such is the tone of Liz Jensen's social satire, Ark Baby. Liz Jensen even mentions Gregor Mendel, the Czech Monk whose games with peas have recently been resurrected by Robin Marantz Henig in A Monk and Two Peas.

Bobby Sullivan is a vet who lives in a Britain where no babies have been born since the Millennium. He himself was born on the day Elvis died; a memorable date in history if ever there was one. Unbeknownst to him, Bobby Sullivan is going to play a quite considerable role in evolution. Trouble is, he has to get out of town first, since his mercy killing of a marriage has got him into a wee bit of trouble. Here, you begin to see the evolution of Liz Jensen's own creations: 'Giselle' previously appeared as a short story all of its own, and concerned the disposal of a dog, rather than a Macaque monkey. There's also an early sight of Jensen's next novel 'The Paper Eater' on page 102, when Bobby Sullivan muses that the fate of Britain may be to become a nuclear waste dumping ground (since there would be no one living there, due to the fertility crisis). The story also moves back in time, to the discovery of a curious small baby, abandoned in the church of Parson Phelps. The good priest, after giving what he thinks is a pig a good kick on the bottom, repents by taking the child in. The care given by the Parson and his wife means that Tobias Phelps (as they christen him), can recover from his injuries. But who is the strange, illiterate woman whose narrative interrupts the text? Who has been conducting far more ambitious experiments than Gregor Mendel?

Thus Buck de Savile (Bobby Sullivan's new identity) arrives in the ancient Viking settlement of Thunder Spit. He believes that he has successfully escaped the town practice where monkey pets have replaced children, and is looking forward to inserting his arm into a cow's bottom. But it's not long before Buck is dragged off to look at some examples of Victorian taxidermy stuffed into a Thunder Spit attic inhabited by a comic ghost known as 'the Laudanum Empress', an avid fan of the crystal box which spews forth 'The Young and the Restless'. We jump back another 150 years and watch from a balloon as the mortal Laudanum Empress and her eminent taxidermist husband Ivanhoe Scrapie conceive their last child, Violet. Thus begins the chain of events which brings Horace Trapp's bloodstained Ark home, along with chef extraordinaire, Jacques-Yves Cabillaud, exponent of 'Cuisine Zoologique', a recipe book which he developed whilst acting as cook on board the Beagle. Meanwhile, Buck gets to grips with beautiful twin sisters Rose and Blanche and their peculiarly shaped feet. The twins participate in the mass pregnancy hoax following the bombing of the National Egg Bank and the death of Albion. As Rose and Blanche research their family history, Buck begins to wonder about his stamina and the stuffed 'Gentleman Monkey': could it be valuable evidence of a missing link?

Parson Phelps tells Tobias that fossils are just God's little joke, but he takes the publication of Charles Darwin's work very seriously, to the extent of ripping pages of it from the pulpit. Ivanhoe Scrapie, frustrated zoologist, also despairs that his fame has been eclipsed by that of Darwin. But just as Tobias discovers a strange and tantalising new fruit, so Scrapie thinks that he has found a missing piece of the puzzle. Violet, who has positively ballooned under the influence of cuisine zoologique, has a chance encounter with Henry Salt, the Victorian Vegetarianism activist. Soon, everybody's writing cookbooks...

Liz Jensen's social satire is as vibrant and readable as ever. Ark Baby has jokes trotting out of it two by two. She's also quick to point out that Darwinism and evolution theory still resound today, especially with the mapping of the human genome. Also buried within these pages are hints of the real life stories and tragedies: the difficult relationship between Captain FitzRoy of the Beagle and Darwin (echoed in Matthew Kneale's English Passengers), the interbreeding of the inhabitants of Thunder Spit recalls Darwin's infertile marriage to his first cousin, mentions of fossil hunting in Lyme Regis revivifies Mary Anning. But I think the most successful resurrection of all is that of Henry Salt. Suet the dog's instinctive reaction is to bite him, but even he sheds a tear as Henry Salt expounds on the Rights of Animals. Henry Salt's writings are still as powerful today, and extremely topical as Foot and Mouth runs on. I've created a page on the context of this novel for interested readers. Liz Jensen's brilliantly entertaining satire should also be as powerful many years from now. Liz Jensen is nothing less than George Orwell with wit.

I picked up "Ark Baby" by Liz Jensen at a used bookstore, read the prologue & was instantly captivated. Needless to say, I walked out of that store with the book in hand. But seeing as how this paperback version did not have a backcover synopsis, I had absolutely no idea what I was about to read & was thus ever more curious. Ultimately, with every chapter I read, I became more & more enthralled by this book. I just finished it not ten minutes ago & I just had to log on & write a review. I found it intriguing; immensely funny; moving; complex, and incredibly well-written. A cross between "Geek Love" & "Skinny Legs and all" (By Katherine Dunn & Tom Robbins, respectively). I am very surprised that this book has not generated as much talk as other books have on certain bestseller lists. I highly recommend everyone to read this novel; you will surely not be disappointed.

I cannot stop writing about this woman, this novel. It is every bit as rewarding as the other readers have said. Don't bother with well-pedigreed testimonials. Yes, the plotting is sublime, the dialog superb. But "Ark Baby" is synthesis, fusion. A new millennial rude beast is slouching towards - er, away, rather - from London. There hasn't been a female novelist, no one I've read - going on forty-odd years - of this magnitude. Jensen, with only a second work (I have not read her first) has excelled, exceeded my hopes. Over the years I've been willing, waiting. But male avatars ruled: Aristophanes, Cervantes, Swift, Kafka, Cortazar, Kawabata, and Poe, among many. A fantastically absurdist or peculiar plot, punctuated by comedic feasts -what is now deemed the novel of Black Humor - this was my Holy Grail. A particularly male quest? Maybe. No problem. Then Jensen blasts away such cherished delusions with "Ark Baby" - and damn-it-all - what a blessed event. Let us praise our now and future Queen. And so on and so forth. Moving on.... Personally, I found the plot-droplets on the novel's back compelling. But prof-scoffs here and there delight in detail, obssess with summary. Meanwhile you have not begun to feast. What have we here? A distaff Swiftian riff, a Mae-Westian romper-stomper treading lightly atop the famed "Stufenalter des Mannes" (the Ages of Man) - if you like, for openers. Will Self's recent "Great Apes" may come to mind (re: "influences"). But we won't find traces of his most pornographic long-windedness or scatological specialization on this terrain. Returning to sources of another sort may be in order. For example, the title "Art Baby" - perfect. A new Genesis, an elemental transformation has been conceived and proclaimed. Human and ape have already exchanged fluids, body parts, DNA - in life and in literature. Hand in hand, we wade faster and deeper into ... what? Bliss? Oblivion? Only Jensen knows this inter-tidal zone truly well, commands an impressive array of the perils readily evident and not. And still she may smile, may frolic, relax. Man, woman, monkey; clergy, scientist, circus performer; church, cetacean, child; beings living, dead, reputedly dead, and undead - all replete in the glorious spectacle of La Jensen's Grand Danse Macabre. Not since Lysistrata has the human process of birth itself so abruptly, thoroughly ceased or nearly so. An entire nation neutered, no less! And not by choice, no, far from it - what's worse, the women alone, en masse, are those impaired. No births, not even conceptions occur-and absolutely no one knows why! What truly educated person can deny the possibility, the almost inevitable immediate reality of such an event taking place, within a year or two, if not already somewhere, someplace, unbeknownst to us?

Let us then go back to the beginning: the Ark. Noah is not present. A dim light may be seen. Many, many animals are likely nearby. Their sounds and stink arise from below. Liz will relate the rest.

Every once in awhile you do judge a book by its cover and find a treasure. With its intriguing tile and cover "Ark Baby" by Liz Jensen grabbed me right away.As the cliche goes, I was hooked from the very first page.The narrative is purposeful and intense without losing its lustiness and bouyant good humor. The story is compelling and I honestly had trouble puttting it down. Rarely does this happen to me having read hundreds of books and having developed a wariness of untried authors. I also must admit to a bit of chauvanism in my reading choices, opting for male writers such as John Irving, Peter Carey, Don Dellilo Gunther Grass and the ilk. The few women I do read are easily defined as such; E. Annie Prolux and Annie Dillard for what I consider a masculine bleakness and sense of scale. Toni Morrison for her compassion and corageous treatment of painful situations.All three could hold their own against the aforementioned male authors. Add to that list Liz Jen! sen! She writes with such freedom, conviction, and passion that I was amazed and uplifted by her energy. Add to this an epic sense of scale and you have something close approaching rare genius! Unfortunately Liz has only one other title,"Egg Dancing" which I can't wait to get my hands on. Meanwhile, read "Ark Baby" and hope like I do that as you are reading this their is an even greater novel brewing in Liz Jensen's mind.

I read The Belated Baby in one sitting often with tears in my eyes. Reading it felt like sitting with a good friend who has felt the pain and disappointment all women feel who have struggled with infertility. As a hopeful, waiting adoptive mother-to-be, I found it particularly helpful in foreshadowing what may come after our much longed for baby finally arrives. In one excerpt the author describes herself sitting in a coffee shop when an expectant mom comes in and sits beside her. When the author feels her body stiffen but her heart soften, I felt hopeful that someday I too will feel that brand of genuine joy for the happiness of other women. Knowing that it is normal for the disappointment of infertility to persist even after the baby arrives is a good lesson and reading the book before parenthood for the still childless couple is a great way to prepare for the emotions that are sure to remain even after children. Those of us who are infertile are going to walk again someday, and the arrival of a baby helps us to do that, but most of us will always walk with just a little limp---it's the battle wound of what it took for us to get there. The book was hopeful and sensible and validates every feeling I have as someone who cannot create children. A must read.

Anyone who has dealt with infertility or adoption should read this book, it is excellent! I just loved it

I had tears in my eyes while reading most of this book. What a comfort to read about the struggles, frustrations, and (belated) elation of other women.

Infertility is a long, lonely struggle and one that emotionally numbed me to core. I feel blessed to have my children, but have lost myself in the process. The authors assuaged my guilt and gave me the stepping stones to find my way back.

This book is a "must read" for anyone that has ever taken the long, winding path to parenthood.

Loved this book. It covers the many stages that couples may go through as they struggle with infertility. The first-person accounts of couples who experienced or are experiencing infertility are encouraging, funny, poignant, and honest. Many different experiences are documented including fertility drugs, IVF, surrogacy, and domestic and international adoption. The authors offer a frank and straightforward discussion of these issues...a discussion only made more insightful by their own experiences with what can be an alternately heartbreaking and joyful journey.

The Belated Baby: A Guide to Parenting After Infertility
As a licensed psychotherapist, I have counseled couples struggling with infertility, miscarriages, fertility treatment, surrogacy and adoption decisions. It's a long, painful road. Couples who ache to have their own children struggle with the mystifying lack of success, the difficult processes of infertility treatment, the ups and downs of hormone treatment, and the grief and frustration of trying and failing, over and over again. When they finally do achieve their dream of parenthood, the longed-for experience is colored by their painful history. The Belated Baby is written by women who have been there, and it pulls no punches; but it manages to be encouraging and helpful at the same time. The quotes from couples and individuals who are going through the struggle, and those who have been successful, through many different means, are instructive, supportive and encouraging. This is a survivor's handbook, which will be of tremendous value to any parents on this journey.

Dear Amazon--
In the hopes that someone will read this-- the title of the book with the error in the title (Leon Speroff's textbook) is Clinical Gynecologic Endocrinology and Infertility. That much is true. The subtitle is wrong. It is not, I repeat not, subtitled: :Cervical Spine Research Editorial Committee. The cervix Dr Speroff treats is in the pelvis, not the neck. Please correct this.
Sorry to notify you in this roundqbout way, but I don't know any other way to let your web masters know of this error. This "review" obviously is not for publication.
Sincerely, Irene M Piekarski, M.D.
206-522-3330 (O)
206-284-2003(H)

I bought this book through Amazon and quite happy with this service and book too.It is recommended for my masters course in Reproductive medicine.Thanks Amzone.

This is one of the bibles of the OB/GYN resident. Excellent reference for the in-service exams. Simple diagrams & tables make this text readable and easy to understand.

This is an incredible book. Speroff is still the king when it comes to infertility. In our OB/Gyn setting we refer to it many times in our treatment of basic infertiltiy and have had great success following the guidelines given by Speroff. It should be on the bookshelf of anyone who treats basic infertility!!

This text offers a straight-forward reference to assist in the management of gyn problems I commonly encounter as a Family Doctor. It goes into great detail about anatomy and physiology of gynecologic problems yet is well-organized for use as a "quick reference". For example, it took less than a minute to find the section on hirsuitism to refresh my memory as to what the initial work-up should consist of.

This book helped get me through the 1st IVf treatment. I wish it could have told me more about the Natural IVf cycle. I am starting it tomorrow. I have 13 embryos frozen and am ready to try again. I needed the book everyday to help prepare me for the next.

If you buy one book on IVF, buy this one. After studying the web for months and undergoing treatment for a year at a fertility treatment center, we bought this book. We thought we had seen everything. This was the first publication I had seen that suggested that assisted hatching + ICSI could give older couples the same chance of conceiving as younger couples with no assistance. Also, the daily calendar for the first IVF cycle is invaluable. We knew just what to expect. This is a very optimistic book, and you will probably need that to survive IVF. The one criticism is that the success tables in this book are drastically out of date.

This book provided me with lots of information and left me loaded with questions for my Reproductive Endocrinologist! It was an excellent resource and I highly recommend it for anyone who is considering or about to undergo any ART procedure.

This book is an excellent resource for anyone thinking about infertility care, its processes and personal challenges.

This is the book that became my bible as I went into advanced infertility treatments. I finally found the information that I was looking for on what it was truly like to go through a cycle of IVF. I copied the diary that is in the book and mailed it to my family so they also knew what to expect. This was the book where I found all the information that I was searching for to help me know what to expect and to help me make the decision to undergo IVF.

I have met Dr. DeCherney. He has done a wonderful job on this useful text.

I used this book to study for my women's health exam and found the book user friendly.

Best choice for medical students who desire an introduction to Obstetrics an Gynecology. Includes guidelines for treatment. The first book at this speciallity for newcomers.

As a busy 4th yr resident, there is hardly any time to read the major OB/GYN textbooks. This text is a good review of major concepts in OB/GYN. It's a very easy read.

I used this book as a supplement to my 3rd year clerkship in med school. It is not a huge text, so it was great for looking up the details that were not found in Blueprints, especially if you are interested in OB for a career. The book is well organized and is easy to read. Too much to read for board review or shelf exams, but an excellent reference book for OB/GYN.

This beautifully written, funny, wrenching and ultimately heartening memoir of a road trip in the immediate aftermath of 9/11 is a rare find. Author Kristin Henderson certainly succeeds in bringing back that time of fear and confusion but what got me was her exploration of connections between the human urges to war and procreation. At the time her husband shipped out to Afghanistan, Henderson was struggling to come to terms with infertility--losing her dream of being a mother and the physical presence of her husband at the same time. Her road trip allowed her the time and solitude to sort through the pain and emotional confusion of all this while, as she says, giving her the illusion of forward motion. We are the lucky beneficiaries of this 'escape plan' as Henderson alternates her experiences on the road--often hooty, always interesting--with recollections of divisions in her self and her marriage over religion, and of the medical and emotional trials of fertility treatment. Reading this wonderful book, I sensed that Henderson, with her trusty dog Rosie at her side, would find the peace she was looking for and I was happy to be along for the vicarious ride.

I live three miles from the Pentagon, less than an hour's walk on a sunny fall afternoon. Sixties liberal that I am though, I saw it only as a destination for peace marches. But when I woke up the morning of Sept. 12, 2001, with smoke still seeping through my open windows from the terrorist attack the day before, my perceptions had undergone a sea change. "The military is there to protect us," it dawned on me, "and someone's just blown a hole in that protection."

With my former convictions in disarray, it's no wonder I was drawn to this memoir in which the author suffered a similar shock to her pacifist beliefs. "Does being a pacifist mean...it's wrong even to defend yourself?" she asks. "On TV, I saw that huge plane magically pushing its way into and through a New York skyscraper, metamorphosing along the way into a blooming poppy of fire. I watched tiny, fragile human figures standing at those broken windows a hundred floors up, someone's daughter, someone's son, all peering down and hoping against hope, not knowing there was no hope. Every time I see them, recall them, I want to seize something, anything, on the other side of the world and smash the hell out of it. I know I won't be satisfied until I see whole towns on the other side of the world destroyed. I horrify myself. I want to run away from myself."

Henderson does "run away." Once she has hugged her Marine chaplain husband goodby, as he ships out for Afghanistan days after September 11, she sets off to drive across the country in a '78 Corvette with only her German shepherd to keep her company. But though she leaves the scenes of carnage behind, she can't escape from her churning emotions, her fear for her husband, or the contradictions that beset her mind. The conflict between her normal pacifism and her instinctual desire for vengeance is not the only discord in Henderson's life: She's a Quaker pacifist married to a Lutheran pastor and Marine chaplain. She parts ways with her husband as well on the subject of religious beliefs -- her growing rejection of the belief that Jesus was God incarnate. Most poignantly, her desire to have a baby increases with every tick of her biological clock, while her husband -- afraid he would follow in his father's footsteps and be an inadequate parent -- doesn't want children at all.

While Driving by Moonlight is a "road" book, it is much more than that. The story of Henderson's trip is vivid, funny and at times harrowing (as she nearly becomes trapped in a sudden blizzard). The family, friends and strangers she encounters along her way are memorable characters, well portrayed in her hands. But her story is not just that of her journey from one coast to another, but of her journey through life. Fortunately for the reader, the author not only weaves her trip and her life complications together adroitly, but she seems utterly lacking in pretensions and leavens her serious themes with delicious humor. I couldn't stop laughing when she told how she and her dubious husband decided to renovate their only bathroom -- without the help of a plumber. (A perfect start to Sunday during the time the bathroom was ripped out was to pick up the paper from the doorstep, drive to the nearest museum and settle down in the still empty rest room.) Though I read mostly fiction, I found this memoir as engrossing as any novel.

While I originally picked up the book because the author mirrored the reactions I'd had after September 11, I found myself becoming more engrossed in Henderson's life, in particular her struggle (sadly unsuccessful) to become pregnant, which meant fighting to convince her reluctant husband to agree to each round of infertility treatment, and finally to in vitro fertilization, or as Henderson describes it, "a final Hail Mary roll of the dice."

Henderson ends with as many contradictions as she started. Planning the trip "gave me the illusion that I controlled my life," she writes, an illusion of which she was quickly disabused as weather closes the road in front of her. But the act of driving itself, immersed in the white noise of the Corvette's engine has become a form of "centering prayer" and she is learning to live -- as all of us must -- with uncertainty. Meanwhile she drives on. Darkness falls and her headlights show nothing but the side of the road. But tomorrow, "the moon will slowly begin opening like an eye, widening to reflect the Light and illuminate the darkness before slowly closing again. Way opens, way closes, and then way opens again, circling around and around as I drive on, the moon and the starry patchwork of constellations all turning and tinkling in the solar wind."

I felt enlightened and enriched for having read this beautifully written and honest account of another woman's struggle to come to terms with the contradictions in her life.

I sat down and read this book cover to cover. Though I have not had to go through a battle with infertility, this book was deeply meaningful to me. So many questions that I deal with daily as a wife, mother, and human being. Where does God fit into my life? What is this uncontrolable urge to have (or not to have!) children? Did I want them for the right reasons--and now that I have them, do I really want them? How does it make sense on a cosmic level for someone who wants a child more than anything and cannot have one while there are so many people who frankly should not have them have kids with ease? I really appreciated the author's honesty---she said so many things that few people would have the guts too, especially about marriage. Very thought provoking, comforting and unsettling at the same time. Well worth a read for anyone!

After September 11, 2001, Kristin Henderson's husband, a Lutheran minister and Marine chaplain, shipped out to Afghanistan. And Kristin, a pacifist Quaker, climbed into her Corvette with her German shepherd and embarked on a 10,000-mile journey through a country that seemed forever changed. This memoir details that cross-country journey; more importantly, it explores the author's simultaneous journey of self-discovery.

Henderson deftly weaves together the strands of her road trip with those of her internal one. As she drives the highways and backroads of America and Canada, she sees signs everywhere of people's grief, shock, and anger over the terrorist attacks, and she reflects on her Quaker beliefs, questioning whether those beliefs can be reconciled with her thirst for vengeance. As she fears for her husband's safety and breathlessly awaits his too-infrequent e-mails, she recalls the strain placed on her marriage by the conflicts between her own religious questing and his rock-solid faith.

Most memorably, she traces the couple's years-long struggle with infertility and the painful, heart-wrenching process of trying to get pregnant.

This is Henderson's first published book, but you'd never know it from the eloquence of her writing and the complexity of emotion it conveys. She's often hilariously funny -- as when she compares religions to cars; or when she describes the renovation of her Washington, D.C., rowhouse's only bathroom; or when she tells of the eccentric characters encountered at a mountaintop lodge in Montana. But she can also bring a reader to tears with her discussion of a foreign-born teen who is assaulted for looking different; and, of course, her descriptions of infertility treatments and the psychological trauma that accompanies them.

The author envies her dog Rosie's ability to live in the moment and accept whatever turns up next along the road. As a reader, I found myself envying Rosie as well, but for a different reason: I wished I could have been along on that journey, with so likeable and interesting a tour guide as Henderson at the wheel. Reading her book is the next best thing.

The first time I read something written by Kristin was in the Washington Post Sunday Magazine almost a year ago. I was drawn in by the subject matter and stayed because I really liked how and what she wrote. Since then I've become a huge fan, even going so far as to send my father-in-law to one of her readings for an autographed copy of this book.

I knew a bit about Kristen's personal history from her article in the Washington Post Sunday Magazine about her chaplain husband (available on her website at www.kristinhenderson.com) and this book tells us even more.

I loved this book! Kristin takes (what I think are) enormous risks - opening up and telling the world about her relationships with her family, her struggles with infertility, Rosie and the Vette.

Do yourself a favor and get then read this book! And get a copy for someone you love.

It's all in there: Friendship and hope, anguish and tears, reconciliation and joy. Mary Ann Thompson, the mother of my daughter, has told our story with candor and sensitivity. She gave me our daughter. This book is another gift. A true story of how love and courage restore brokeness. I highly recommend it. You will not want to put it down until you read the very last chapter.

THIS BOOK IS THE GIFT THAT KEEPS ON GIVING. MARY ANN THOMPSON OPENED HER HEART TO FIRST GIVE HER FRIEND A CHILD, AND THEN AGAIN TO WRITE ABOUT THE EXPERIENCE WITH SUCH HONESTY AND DEEP FEELINGS.
THE GIFT OF A CHILD IS ONE OF THOSE TREASURE CHESTS THAT YOU WILL WANT TO DIP INTO AGAIN AND AGAIN ONCE YOU HAVE READ IT, WHICH YOU WILL PROBABLY DO IN ONE SITTING. I DIDN'T WANT TO STOP ONCE I OPENED THE LOVELY COVER.
BUY TWO - YOU'LL WANT TO GIVE ONE TO A CLOSE FRIEND, BUT YOU WON'T WANT THE BOOK TO LEAVE ONCE YOU HAVE BROUGHT IT HOME.

"When any child is born, many are born. A father is born, he who a moment earlier was only a man. A mother is born, who for months had been merely a pregnant woman...And beyond that: cousins, aunts, grandparents, perhaps the whole world is changed by one moment of emergence, that draining out of water and drawing in of breath. She is born, and we are born, too, changed by the startling, wavering announcement of life, of autonomy, of existence...." (The Gift of a Child, p.3)

This book is itself remarkable journey, as much as it is the telling of one. From the conception of the idea--to carry a child for a friend who is unable to conceive--to the birth of her daughter, the author's luminous writing invites us to share this experience as it unfolds in all its intensity. As her tiny daughter leaves her birth mother to begin life with her parents, we see, too, how a wounded friendship is made whole again. This is a must-read for those considering surrogacy, there is much to be learned in its pages. More than that, however, it is a book for anyone exploring what it means to love with an open heart....A lovely gift for anyone who has been a mother, or who has had a mother. In other words, a splendid gift for all of us...

I'm so happy I stumbled across this book. What a story--a 41-year-old woman decides to carry a child for her best friend who cannot conceive, and then as the pregnancy progresses they unexpectedly grow further and further apart. At the end of the book, the author tells you how they finally came back together after the baby was born, and you see that this difficult project was truly a succeess, a wonder, a gift.

It's written beautifully. No holds barred, everything you want to know about how they did it, what everyone was thinking, how it went. I was so impressed with this woman who wrote the book. What a gift she gave her friend (and the world). And what a book she later wrote about it. She's a talented writer and it's a heartfelt book that I highly recommend.

Human childbearing surrogacy is an odd concept -- how does one bear a child for someone else? This emotionally naked memoir tells one woman's life-changing story, and of the child given and the friend and mother immeasurably blessed. A gift beyond friendship, a tale enacted without lawyers or contracts or insurance or social agencies. Bravery and trust. A gift from a woman to herself, from a woman to her friend, from the child to both women. Next to the clear honesty is the lustrous storytelling. Copies of this book will by my gifts to my family and friends.

It's true. After reading the first chapter, I found that I just kept talking about this book to everyone I saw. It is so well written, so touching and thought provoking. I felt like I was sitting down with the author, sharing our stories back and forth. Excellent book!

Being a woman who's been through five miscarriages, I could sense the comfort and hope that this book brings to those who are unable to conceive. The loss of a pregnancy or the fact that you can't conceive at all can be a dark place in one's life.

The author's own experience offers hope and opens new paths for women who need a hand to guide them through this dark time.

As with her last book, Shannon Woodward paints vivid pictures with her words, in a style that is unique to her writing.

In this book, Shannon Woodward basically shares her personal story and struggle with infertility. While I related to many of the feelings she expressed, and found some things helpful in the book, overall I did not identify with most of what she wrote about. Her book largely covers her pursuit of adoption, and the many failed attempts she endured. While I found her stories engaging, I personally have not chosen the adoption route. I have pursued my path more through medical intervention to conceive biological children, and very little was mentioned in her book about this option, mostly because she seemed to have barely pursued it. I do think this is a good book, but I wish that I had been able to get more of a picture of what this book actually covered before I had purchased it.

I am absolutely awed by Shannon Woodward's ability to tell this story. A story lived by many, but voiced by far too few.

She has taken this uncomfortable and sometimes extremely painful journey and helped forge a way to healing.

I would highly recommend this book to any women who is struggling with issues surrounding infertility. Sometimes it's good to know you're not walking through darkness alone.

This book shares the author's journey of learning to accept the fact that she'll never be able to conceive children. Her story begins in 1988, when her doctor discloses the dreaded news. She said his words became like "a constant, haunting hum in my head, like a song you can't shake -- a song with the power to drive you insane. His voice was inescapable."

Shannon Woodward explores her pain and subsequent healing in intimate detail for readers. She takes us back to her childhood, where she first looks out at the stars and wonders if God even exists, and she shares with us how her faith began to grow.

She takes us with her to every scene, filling each memory with description and dialogue which reads like the best of storytelling. We reach the point with her when she and her husband decide to adopt -- and we agonize with her frustration when birth mother after birth mother changes her mind.

One of the most poignant scenes in the book is when she and her husband are bringing home their first adopted son, Zachary, whose name means, "The Lord has remembered." As their new little son is bundled in soft blankets in the car seat, she and her husband look up and see an oversized, lighted marquis hovering above a used car lot. In bold black letters, the sign reads, "Congratulations, Dave and Shannon. It's a boy." They never learned who wrote that message.

The book takes readers up to the present, where we see how Shannon's journey has helped her become a mother to many. She has an active ministry in mentoring and encouraging hundreds of women through her speaking and writing.

There are some books I read once, then set aside, without feeling a change. Shannon Woodward's book is one I'll read again and again, always remembering how the blessing of motherhood is a gift not to be taken lightly. The back of the book contains a wonderful reader's guide which includes discussion questions for each chapter.

This is a must-read for anyone who struggles with infertility; Shannon's transparency gives readers the support they need to move toward peace.

After 2 and a half years of trying to conceive, with many fertility procedures, tests, and pregnancy losses on the way, my 3r4d IVF was successful. Despite the joy I feel, there is a ton of fear, among other emotions. This book makes me feel so NORMAL! I was concerned it would not be for the pregnancy period, but it is. It has many true-life stories included, and I can relate to so many of them. I know I will refer to this book for years to come. I highly recommend it. I plan to share it with some close friends and family as well... to help them "understand" where I am coming from.

There aren't many good books out there about infertility and adopting, especially compared to ordinary parenting books, but there are even fewer about parenting after infertility. This book really is required reading. Perhaps its most important contribution is to acknowledge that years of suffering don't just dissolve without effects once you've ``solved'' the problem by having a child. My only regret is that it doesn't go into still more detail -- here's hoping it sparks some imitators. Because it discusses emotional and psychological issues rather than purely medical ones, it is unlikely to go out of date any time soon.

The Long Awaited Stork is the book that I wish I'd found three years ago when my twins were born! Like many other infertility veterans, I thought that my struggles were over when I became pregnant and delivered two healthy baby girls. Indeed, things are great but I still find that infertility is part of my life. I loved it when Ms. Glazer referred to the "cameo appearances" that infertility makes. It's a great description for those waves of feeling that come back when I least expect them. This book is a GREAT gift for anyone who is newly pregnant or for a new adoptive parent.

After years of infertility, and all the unsettling emotions I experienced, I had hoped that getting pregnant would let me be "normal" again. I was amazed that even though I finally made it to the pregnancy world, I still had some of those old infertility feelings surface at the most unexpected times. Reading this book helped me realize I'm experiencing something normal for those of us who have lived the IF experience. I can see this being a reference for me for years to come.

Many infertile couples are so focussed on trying to get pregnant, they often lose sight of the fact that the real challenge - that of bringing up their child - arises only after they achieve their goal and have a baby ! This book is a very helpful guide on parenting for all infertile couples , and discusses issues which most books on infertility ( and most on parenting ) do not touch.