Sheila Alexander remembers the days she was afraid she would get pregnant before she was ready. But when she and her husband were ready to have a baby, the process did not go as smoothly as they hoped. After more than one year of trying to have a baby, the couple decided it was time to try invitro fertilization treatments. While she was trapped in her world of pins, needles, and doctor's appointments, her social media newsfeed was plagued by pregnant bellies and happy children. In If: A Memoir of Infertility Treatment, Alexander shares her story about the lonely road to pregnancy. With a humorous outlook, she tells about the emotional roller coaster of feelings, the physical issues endured, and the joy she felt at finally becoming pregnant. Alexander offers insight into her experiences to let other women know they are not alone in their quest to become pregnant and be a mother.

A brilliant exploration of the natural, medical, psychological, and political facets of fertility When Belle Boggs's "The Art of Waiting" was published in Orion in 2012, it went viral, leading to republication in Harper's Magazine, an interview on NPR's The Diane Rehm Show, and a spot at the intersection of "highbrow" and "brilliant" in New York magazine's "Approval Matrix." In that heartbreaking essay, Boggs eloquently recounts her realization that she might never be able to conceive. She searches the apparently fertile world around her--the emergence of thirteen-year cicadas, the birth of eaglets near her rural home, and an unusual gorilla pregnancy at a local zoo--for signs that she is not alone. Boggs also explores other aspects of fertility and infertility: the way longing for a child plays out in the classic Coen brothers film Raising Arizona; the depiction of childlessness in literature, from Macbeth to Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?; the financial and legal complications that accompany alternative means of family making; the private and public expressions of iconic writers grappling with motherhood and fertility. She reports, with great empathy, complex stories of couples who adopted domestically and from overseas, LGBT couples considering assisted reproduction and surrogacy, and women and men reflecting on childless or child-free lives. In The Art of Waiting, Boggs deftly distills her time of waiting into an expansive contemplation of fertility, choice, and the many possible roads to making a life and making a family.

Born in 1981, shortly after the first IVF baby, Anne-Marie Scully grew up in a world where infertility is a problem everyone assumes can be fixed. Named for the frustration Anne-Marie felt when realizing that becoming a mother was not a given and that IVF was not a guaranteed 'Plan B', Motherhoodwinked documents the pain and the shame of life as an infertile woman. But Motherhoodwinked is more than just another trying to conceive memoir, it is an important social commentary on the impact infertility has on the lives of those going through it and how the modern digital age has both helped and hindered the journey. With heartbreaking honesty Anne-Marie takes us on a journey from her initial optimism and excitement at finally trying for a baby and fulfilling her lifelong dream to become a mother, through to her increasingly complex pregnancy plan, her experiments with holistic therapies, the NaPro program and finally her experience with ICSI and IVF. Sometimes sad, sometimes laugh out loud funny Motherhoodwinked offers both couples going through infertility and their support networks coping skills for how to survive this lonely journey, that actually affects one in six couples.

From PEN/America Award winner, 2021 Guggenheim fellow, and beloved literary and tarot icon Michelle Tea, the hilarious, powerfully written, taboo-breaking story of her journey to pregnancy and motherhood as a 40 year-old, queer, uninsured woman Written in intimate, gleefully TMI prose, Knocking Myself Up is the irreverent account of Tea’s route to parenthood—with a group of ride-or-die friends, a generous drag queen, and a whole lot of can-do pluck. Along the way she falls in love with a wholesome genderqueer a decade her junior, attempts biohacking herself a baby with black market fertility meds (and magicking herself an offspring with witch-enchanted honey), learns her eggs are busted, and enters the Fertility Industrial Complex in order to carry her younger lover’s baby. With the signature sharp wit and wild heart that have made her a favorite to so many readers, Tea guides us through the maze of medical procedures, frustrations and astonishments on the path to getting pregnant, wryly critiquing some of the systems that facilitate that choice (“a great, punk, daredevil thing to do”). In Knocking Myself Up, Tea has crafted a deeply entertaining and profound memoir, a testament to the power of love and family-making, however complex our lives may be, to transform and enrich us.

What IF you suddenly learned that what you always believed would be a natural part of your life, was not only going to be difficult, but potentially impossible? That your body was not able to function as designed, or that your knowledge of how your own body even works has been severely limited?Now imagine that you're expected to take that news and continue functioning normally, field invasive and often hurtful questions or statements, and maintain your interpersonal relationships.This is exactly how it feels for the millions of individuals and couples that find themselves experiencing infertility. So how ironic is it that one of the most common acronyms for infertility is IF, considering how much of our lives feel like a great big "what if" during infertility.Regina Townsend wants to help you make sense of the what if's. Through this book she'll use her personal story of infertility, infused with her signature wit and empathy to help you:Make sense of the various and often unexpected feelings that fertility issues present;Provide some humor to a difficult and often heartbreaking situation;Gain insight, tools, and even words to help along your journey;Remember that this is all a part of your journey and deserves to be documented, regardless of the outcome;Find solace in knowing that your feelings are valid and that you are not alone.Part memoir and part guided journal, Make IF Make Sense will empower you to push through to the goals you have in mind for your family building or reproductive health journey. Ideal for those experiencing infertility, or the loving friends and family who wish they knew how to offer support.

This book, titled Hilariously Infertile, is on a mission to make others who have struggled with infertility, laugh (perhaps while their feet are still in the stirrups and their vaginas are enjoying the fresh air of the fertility clinic). It is a comedic, self-deprecating, look into the harsh, scary, and often sad world of infertility. Hilariously Infertile will make you laugh out loud while wishing you could have a glass of wine with the author and discuss how you relate to her story is. The author pokes fun at the infertility world, with jokes, such as, equating the constant gynecological exams to her sluttiest days in college, and wondering if her husband will be home in time to stick it (the IVF ass shot) into her butt. We follow the author's journey from trying to conceive on her own, discovering she is infertile, getting pregnant, and then doing it all again for her second child. The entire journey is marked with uproarious scenes that any woman who has ever been to the gynecologist can identify with. At times, the author's candor will surely lead the reader to conclude that the outlandish stories cannot be true. But they are, all of them. Included in the journey is a chapter on being a new mom. This chapter is funny and real. It does not boast about being a parent, to those who still may be on that path; rather, it speaks candidly about the adjustment to a new life that the author worked hard to achieve, via fertility treatments, and yet still was not ready for. There is no filter for the author of Hilariously Infertile. This book tells it like it is, from sex, to infertility, to being a mother and a wife. If you have thought it somewhere deep down inside, this book says it aloud.

"As Samantha's and Kyle Busch's public lives grew more pronounced, their private life was being torn apart. The frustrations and uncertainty of their fertility problems took a toll on them as individuals and as a couple, creating a cyclone of emotions that threatened everything they had worked so hard for. Through these trials, they learned how to build a stronger relationship, foster a deeper faith, and find humor through the tears. They also discovered a passion for helping other couples gain access to fertility treatments. In this memoir, Samantha uses her voice to break the silence and stigma that surround the infertility community. By sharing practical advice as well as candid and inspiring stories of her journey, she provides support, validation, community, and education for others experiencing similar tribulations"--