This book examines donor conception and the search for information by donor-conceived people. It details differing regulatory approaches across the globe, including those that provide for “open-identity” or anonymous donation, or that take a “dual-track” approach. In doing so, it identifies models regarding the recording and release of information about donors that may assist in the further development of the law, policy and associated practices. Arguments for and against donor anonymity are considered, and specifically critiqued. The study highlights contrasting reasoning and emphasis upon various interests and factors that may underpin secrecy, anonymity or openness. The book will be of value to academics, students and legal practitioners involved with this area. It is also relevant to policy makers, health practitioners and anyone with an interest in the subject.

When Pip and Stacey John got married in 2004, little did they know of the emotional roller coaster heading their way. In this book, Pip talks openly and honestly about the emotional and personal journey through infertility the couple went on to achieve their dream to become parents. If you have ever wondered what is involved in adopting or have just started the adoption process, this book will give you an insight into every aspect of the adoption process. It is a heartfelt account of the ups and downs encountered by Pip and Stacey. It chronicles every step; from when they first attended an information evening, to the joy of bringing their children home and everything in between. It’s a heart-warming and compelling read, one which will leave you feeling inspired to chase your dreams and not look back.

From the Back Cover: A pioneer in the field of assisted reproduction, Dr. Richard Marrs has spent his life counseling couples who struggle with the pain of infertility, developing new treatments, and helping thousands to experience the wonder of birth. Now Dr. Marrs shares his knowledge and expertise in a groundbreaking book that answers all your questions, understands your concerns, and covers every aspect of fertility problems, including infertility’s emotional price as well as its financial one. Based on the latest research and technologies—and the real-life experiences of thousands of couples—Dr. Marrs tells you everything you need to know about getting pregnant, including:

• Which cutting-edge advances in reproductive technology—including in vitro, GIFT, ZIFT, sperm manipulation, and immunological therapy—are right for you;

• Is it your nerves? How emotions can delay or stop ovulation;

• The biggest mistake doctors make when a man’s sperm count is borderline or subnormal;

• Which fertility drugs work best ... and the side effects you should expect;

• Your chances of multiple births ... twins, triplets, or more;

• When to change doctors or see a specialist;

• The good news about using a partner’s sperm and not a donor’s ... even if your partner’s count is very low;

• Your insurance coverage—what you can and cannot do;

• And much more.

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About the Author: Richard Marrs, M.D., was the second doctor in the United States to achieve the birth of a baby from in vitro fertilization; the birth of the first frozen-embryo baby in the country, as well as the world’s first pregnancy using a combination of ZIFT and surrogate gestational carriers. He founded and was the first president of the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology. He was a member of the National Ethics Committee, which produced the first document in the United States on the morals and ethics of human reproduction. And more recently he headed Advocates for Fertility Treatment, which lobbied both the White House and Congress to increase health insurance coverage so that all infertile couples would have the chance to have a child.

Kathy Kirtland Silverman and Lisa Friedman Bloch are a television writing and producing team with numerous television movies to their credit. Lisa Bloch, the mother of twins, is also a former patient of Dr. Marrs’.

From the Publisher: In the first book to examine the industry of reproductive technology from the perspective of the consumer, Gay Becker scrutinizes the staggering array of medical options available to women and men with fertility problems and assesses the toll—both financial and emotional—that the quest for a biological child often exacts from would-be parents. Becker interviewed hundreds of people over a period of years; their stories are presented here in their own words. Absorbing, informative, and in many cases moving, these stories address deep-seated notions about gender, self-worth, and the cultural ideal of biological parenthood. Becker moves beyond people’s personal experiences to examine contemporary meanings of technology and the role of consumption in modern life. What emerges is a clear view of technology as culture, with technology the template on which issues such as gender, nature, and the body are being rewritten and continuously altered.

The Elusive Embryo chronicles the history and development of reproductive technology, and shows how global forces in consumer culture have contributed to the industry’s growth. Becker examines how increasing use of reproductive technology has changed ideas about “natural” pregnancy and birth. Discussing topics such as in vitro fertilization, how men and women “naturalize” the use of a donor, and what happens when new reproductive technologies don’t work, Becker shows how the experience of infertility has become increasingly politicized as potential parents confront the powerful forces that shape this industry.

The Elusive Embryo is accessible, well written, and well documented. It will be an invaluable resource for people using or considering new reproductive technologies as well as for social scientists and health professionals.

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About the Author: Gay Becker is Professor of Medical Anthropology and Social and Behavioral Sciences and an investigator at the Institute for Health and Aging at the University of California, San Francisco. She is the author of Disrupted Lives: How People Create Meaning in a Chaotic World (California, 1997), Healing the Infertile Family: Strengthening Your Relationship in the Search for Parenthood (California, 1997), and Growing Old in Silence (California, 1980).

From the Publisher: Can one couple’s dilemma be the answer to another couple’s hopes and dreams? Yes! If you are a couple with precious, frozen embryos, this book provides Christian-based guidance on the loving, life-affirming option of embryo donation. If you are a couple who is longing to have a baby, this book will help you consider the adventure of a lifetime—becoming parents through embryo adoption. Sensitively written in an easy-to-read style, this book is a must-read for those interested in learning more about new opportunities in embryo donation and embryo adoption.

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By the Same Author: Dear God, Why Can’t We Have a Baby? (with Joe S. McIlhaney, Jr., M.D.) (1986, Baker Book House) and When the Cradle is Empty: Answering Tough Questions about Infertility (2004, Tyndale House Publishers).

Empty Arms, Open Hearts is about seven adoptive families who met at an adoption seminar. It includes interviews with each mom and many of their 15 adopted children. The seven families decided to form an adoption playgroup when the seminar ended. The moms wanted their children to grow up with the experience of having friends to whom they could relate in a unique way.

In The Empty Cradle, Margaret Marsh and Wanda Ronner delve into the origins of the many misconceptions surrounding infertility as they explore how medical and cultural beliefs emerged throughout its controversial history. Drawing on a wide variety of sources—including intimate diaries and letters, patient records, memoirs, medical literature, and popular magazines—The Empty Cradle investigates the social, cultural, scientific, and medical dimensions of infertility over the past three hundred years. Marsh and Ronner explore reactions—among both physicians and husbands—to the emerging scientific evidence that infertility was a condition for which men and women bear equal responsibility. The book concludes that infertility is still a subject affected by myth and misunderstanding. A lively and compelling history of a complex medical and cultural phenomenon, The Empty Cradle brings a valuable perspective to current debates about how we should think about and address the experience of infertility in our own time. About the Author: Margaret Marsh, Ph.D., the author of Suburban Lives and Anarchist Women, 1870–1920, is Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences and and professor of history at Rutgers University, Camden. Wanda Ronner, M.D., is an obstetrician-gynecologist at the Thomas Jefferson University School of Medicine in Philadelphia.

From the Dust Jacket: In her late thirties, journalist Jill Smolowe was realizing the life she had always envisioned for herself. Her career at a national magazine was on track. Her husband, Joe, was still her most trusted confidante and best friend. And now that she and Joe had decided finally to have a child, Jill assumed the pregnancy that had come so easily to all the women in her family would be her own next chapter. But nature had a different script in mind.

Instead of decorating the nursery, Jill was soon racing to appointments with a vial of Joe’s sperm in hand; instead of losing her waistline, she was losing her sense of direction, her humor and everything she liked best about herself. As the quest for a child swerved from the roller coaster of infertility procedures toward the baffling maze of adoption options, Jill’s desperation deepened—while Joe’s resistance to children only hardened. In the fog of depression, disappointments and dead ends, their marriage began to founder. As they set off to travel halfway around the world for a baby, Jill was certain she knew what was coming next. Instead, in Yangzhou, China, she encountered a future she’d never imagined might be hers.

Honest and intimate, as much a window on a marriage as on a high-stakes baby chase, An Empty Lap is an affirmation of one loving couple’s struggle to hold it together. From Jill’s pained realization that playing aunt would never be enough, to Joe’s adamant certainty that playing father was not for him, here is a story as compelling, beautifully told and insightful as a novel. Filled with emotions that anyone who has yearned for a child will recognize, and destined to be passed from wives to husbands, from sisters to brothers and friends, it chronicles an odyssey that is embarked upon every day.

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Jill Smolowe is a veteran journalist whose articles from Time and Newsweek have received many awards. Her work has also appeared in The New York Times, the Boston Globe, People, Family Life, Adoptive Families and several other publications. She makes her home in New Jersey with her husband, Joe Treen, chief of correspondents at People, and with their daughter, Becky.

From the Publisher: Because of its wide scope (infertility, miscarriage, sudden infant death, abortion, release to adoption; emotional disappointments including handicapped babies, cesareans, premature or traumatic birth; and help for grieving children), this book will help parents and care-givers understand the great burden of all loss experience.

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About the Author: Claudia Panuthos is founder and director of Offspring, a childbirth counseling center. She is the author of many books, including Transformation Through Birth.

Catherine Romeo, former co-director of Offspring, is a director of Birthchoice, a frequent lecturer, a La Leche League leader, certified childbirth educator, labor attendant, and therapist.

Peggy O’Mara McMahon is publisher and editor of Mothering magazine, as well as a poet and a writer.

Enhancing Fertility Naturally outlines ways in which you can improve your fertility through alternative therapies, diet, exercise, and relaxation techniques and avoid some of the hazards associated with conventional treatments. It discusses the most common causes of infertility and explains how to determine which therapy is most appropriate for you. In vitro fertilization, conventional medicine’s most prescribed remedy for infertility problems, is expensive, dangerous, and has a success rate of only 14 percent, yet few of the one in six couples that experience infertility are aware of the effectiveness and safety provided by the wide range of alternative treatments. Thoroughly researched and packed full of invaluable advice and tips, the book explores such therapies as acupuncture, reflexology, homeopathy, cranial osteopathy, aromatherapy, and herbalism. The author includes case histories for each of the therapies discussed, showing how the therapies helped couples overcome both primary and secondary infertility in order to have the baby they longed for. About the Author: Nicky Wesson is a member of the Association for the Improvement in Maternity Services, a National Childbirth Trust teacher, and the author of Natural Mothering (1997). She lives in England.

From the Dust Jacket: Skyrocketing infertility rates and the accompanying explosion in reproductive technology are revolutionizing the American family and changing the way we think about parenthood, childbirth, and life itself. In this riveting work of investigative reporting, Liza Mundy, an award-winning journalist for The Washington Post, captures the human narratives, as well as the science, behind what is today a controversial, multibillion-dollar industry, and examines how the huge social experiment that is assisted reproduction is transforming our most basic relationships and even our destiny as a species.

Based on in-depth reporting from across the nation and around the world, using riveting anecdotal material from doctors, families, and children—many of them now adults—conceived through in vitro fertilization, Mundy looks at the phenomena created by assisted reproduction and their ramifications. Never before in the history of humankind has it been possible for a woman to give birth to an infant who is genetically unrelated to her. Never before has it been possible for a woman to be the genetic parent of children to whom she has not given birth. Never before has the issue of choice had such kaleidoscopic implications. If you support reproductive freedom, does that mean you support everything being offered in the reproductive marketplace? Thawing frozen embryos and letting them expire? Selecting the sex of your baby? Conceiving triplets and “reducing” the pregnancy down to twins? Everything Conceivable explores the personal impact on individuals using assisted reproduction to conceive, and the moral, ethical, and pragmatic decisions they make on their journey to parenthood. It looks at the vast social consequences: for hospital neonatal wards, for family structure, for schools, for our notion of genetic relatedness and whether it matters, for adoption, for our nation as a whole and how we think about the earliest human life-forms. The book explores questions of social justice: the ethics of buying or borrowing some part of the reproductive process, as with egg donation and surrogacy. It looks at entirely new family structures being created by families who have conceived using sperm donors, so that children may have half-siblings around the country with whom they are, or are not, in contact. And it looks toward the future, to the impact today’s technology may have on coming generations.

Fascinating, commanding, keenly observed and reported, rich in personal drama as well as in the science of evolution and reproduction, Liza Mundy’s Everything Conceivable is a groundbreaking consideration of the changes sweeping through our culture and the world.

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About the Author: Liza Mundy was raised in Roanoke, Virginia, and received her A.B. degree from Princeton University and an M.A. at the University of Virginia, where she also taught. She is a feature writer at The Washington Post Magazine, where she has written articles and essays on family life, popular culture, the arts, and politics and was selected by Oliver Sacks for inclusion in The Best American Science Writing 2003. She has won awards from the Sunday Magazine Editors Association, among others. She has also written for Slate, Redbook, Washington City Paper, and Washington Monthly. She lives in Arlington, Virginia, with her husband and two children.

From the Back Cover: The guidance you need to solve fertility problems

One in eight couples experiences some sort of issue with fertility, often compounded by complicated treatments and so-called miracle cures. But if you have had trouble conceiving, you need all of your options laid out in one convenient guide. Fertility counselor and nurse Nicole Galan shows you the medical and holistic information you need to conceive and bear a happy, healthy child, such as:

• Side effects of the latest fertility drugs

• Birth rates associated with various treatments

• Yoga poses that aid fertility

• Coping methods for dealing with loss

• What to expect when seeing a fertility expert

With this authoritative and friendly guide, getting pregnant doesn’t have to be a stressful process. Armed with knowledge and reassurance, you'll be ready to make the choices that work best for you and start your family today.

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About the Author: Nicole Galan, R.N. earned her Bachelors of Science degree in Nursing from Pace University. Currently she works as a nurse at a prominent fertility clinic in Brooklyn, NY. She has counseled and taken care of hundreds of women and couples through all stages of infertility treatment: diagnosis, ovulation induction, in vitro fertilization, gamete donation, and even early pregnancy. She has recently taken over the donor egg department, managing and coordinating all donor egg cycles. Additionally, Galan is the About.com guide to polycystic ovary syndrome where she helps thousands of women every month. She lives in Brooklyn, NY.

Richard V. Grazi, M.D. is the founder of Genesis Fertility and Director of Division of Reproductive Endocrinology at Maimonides Medical Center. Dr. Grazi is an Associate Clinical Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences at Mount Sinai School of Medicine. He is board certified in obstetrics and gynecology and in reproductive endocrinology. A fellow of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology, the American College of Surgeons, and the Society of Reproductive Surgeons, Dr. Grazi has published and lectured extensively on clinical and ethical issues related to reproductive medicine. He lives in Brooklyn, NY.

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Compiler’s Note: See, particularly, Chapter 22: When It Doesn’t Work (Adoption, Foster Care, and Embryo Adoption) (pp. 268-273).

Infertility can be a problem for anyone, but the modern age offers many options to combat it for those who desire to have children. These immense possibilities, however, are tangled with dilemma. In this book, you will read about three different families, each facing their own unique challenges on their path to parenthood. Unable to conceive on their own, they turned to semen and egg donors and surrogates for help.

Expect A Miracle reveals the frailties and strengths buffeted by disappointment after disappointment during one couple’s lengthy and formidable efforts to become parents. As the author and her husband began their journey into the world of infertility they had no idea as to what degree their love for each other would be tested. It portrays the most emotional, stressful and out of control time in their lives. The author expresses her most intimate and deepest thoughts as she and her husband struggle to survive their greatest tragedy. It uncovers the differences between individuals as each attempt to understand why bad things happen to good people. It provides comfort and support to those inflicted by the death of a child. Eventually it details the author’s experience with the adoption process and finally at long last reveals the rainbow breaking through the clouds when they brought home from another continent and into their lives a bright eyed smiling miracle. (A portion of the proceeds from the sale of this book will be donated to Lawrence & Memorial Hospital’s Pregnancy and Infant Loss Support Group. Lawrence & Memorial Hospital is a not-for-profit, general, acute care hospital located in New London, Connecticut.)

Author Jody Cantrell Dyer’s candor, wit, humor, and soul color each page of The Eye of Adoption. She directly addresses the sorrows of infertility and the demands of adoption while consistently word-weaving a life rope of assurance and optimism for her readers. A middle-aged wife, mother, and teacher, Dyer “tells it like it is” in hopes that waiting adoptive parents, birthparents, adoptees, and those close to them will find kinship through her story.

From the Back Cover: Do you or someone you know live with the pain of infertility? If so, you are not alone; one in six couples struggle to conceive a child. Drawing from her own experience and the example of other women and couples, Jean Dimech-Juchniewicz offers hope for all those affected by infertility:

• Find spiritual support for your journey

• Learn about NaProTECHNOLOGY—the exciting new natural method for treating infertility, fully in accord with Church teaching, that has success rates up to 70 percent

• Explore other options in dealing with infertility, including adoption • Discover how friends and family members can help

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About the Author: Jean Dimech-Juchniewicz earned her M.A.in Pastoral Ministry from Boston College. Since 2001 she has served as a lay ecclesial minister in the diocese of Metuchen, NJ. In addition top speaking on matters of theology, liturgy, morality, and spirituality, she facilitates a parish-based support group for Catholics struggling with infertility.

What do you do when you’ve tried for years to have a child? Some people feel like giving up. I am blessed to have a person who is a mentor, friend, teacher and Gospel Writer in my life. Wanza has helped me to overturn some of my life’s most difficult challenges. Infertility was one that I faced. Thanks to Wanza, I believe God for change. Through her books, inspirational words and being a true person who lives what she speaks, she has shown me that all things are possible to those that believe. She is a true believer that faith changes things. Her and her husband has believed God and now they have two beautiful daughters. I myself am now in the process of an IVF cycle. With my faith, God has made a way for me and my husband to have children. Infertility is a hard situation to deal with but when you have a fabulous mentor like Wanza to remind you that your faith is all you need—no matter how hard things may seem; it is the best feeling in the world. God has given her a gift to help women build their faith and believe that it can happen for them too. I am a witness!

From the Back Cover: This book examines, through a multi-disciplinary lens, the possibilities offered by relationships and family forms that challenge the nuclear family ideal, and some of the arguments that recommend or disqualify these as legitimate units in our societies.

That children should be conceived naturally, born to and raised by their two young, heterosexual, married to each other, genetic parents; that this relationship between parents is also the ideal relationship between romantic or sexual partners; and that romance and sexual intimacy ought to be at the core of our closest personal relationships—all these elements converge towards the ideal of the nuclear family.

The authors consider a range of relationship and family structures that depart from this ideal: polyamory and polygamy, single and polyparenting, parenting by gay and lesbian couples, as well as families created through current and prospective modes of assisted human reproduction such as surrogate motherhood, donor insemination, and reproductive cloning.

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About the Author: Daniela Cutas is Research Fellow in Practical Philosophy at the Department of Health, Ethics and Society, Maastricht University, The Netherlands, as well as at the Department of Philosophy, Linguistics and Theory of Science, University of Gothenburg, Sweden, and Lecturer at the Department of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies, Umeå University, Sweden.

Sarah Chan is Research Fellow in Bioethics and Law, and Deputy Director of the Institute for Science, Ethics and Innovation, University of Manchester, UK.

From the Back Cover: This book is a truly moving account of one couple’s journey through infertility into the world of open adoption, and the magic that occurs through the joining of two families brought together by the birth of a child. Sandy’s story is poignant, sometimes funny and always bluntly honest, as the reader becomes acquainted with both the adoptive parents-to-be and the birth family who has chosen them. It leaves the reader with a much deeper understanding of the sacredness of this entire process. It’s a must-read for anyone whose life has been touched by adoption.

From the Dust Jacket: In Family Bonds, Harvard Law professor Elizabeth Bartholet raises profound questions about the meaning of family and the way society shapes options for the infertile. Illumined by the author’s compelling personal story, the book challenges the societal policies that help shape adoption, infertility treatment, surrogacy, and other new parenting arrangements.

Family Bonds will encourage and enlighten all who struggle with infertility and the decision whether to pursue treatment, adoption, or other parenting options. It will compel the attention of doctors, lawyers, child welfare workers, and policymakers.

In her poignant and controversial book, Bartholet examines policies that leave children without homes and would-be parents without children. She questions the wisdom of driving women to spend years in infertility treatment while pushing them away from adoption.

She talks about transracial and transnational families, single and older-parent families. She forces us to think about our goals for the family of the future.

Uniquely qualified to write this book, Bartholet is a recognized expert on civil rights and family law who has raised one child born to her, endured her own struggle with infertility, and recently adopted as a single parent two children born in Peru.

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About the Author: Elizabeth Bartholet, who has taught at Harvard since 1977, writes, lectures, and consults widely on issues involving adoption and reproductive technology. She lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with her two younger children.

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By the Same Author: Nobody’s Children: Abuse and Neglect, Foster Drift, and the Adoption Alternative (1999, Beacon Press).

Statistics show that over two million couples will experience some type of infertility issue when they try to become pregnant. However, when you are one of those two million, you feel completely alone and believe that no one can truly understand what you are going through. This honest and revealing book documents one couple’s long and arduous journey to become parents from the eyes of the author. The longer this process took, the more emotional and difficult things became, and the more the author relied on this journal to sort out all the emotions she was having. She never expected that this journal would last for years, hundreds of hormone shots and pills, blood draws, surgical procedures, terrorist attacks, international flights and the most emotional and financial roller coaster that she had ever been on. But she and her husband were desperate to become parents, to have their own child to love, to hug, to experience life with. By sharing their experience, this book offers insight into the emotional, physical and sociological effects infertility has on a couple’s relationship, their families, friends and themselves as individuals. It also provides in-depth detail of popular infertility treatments, domestic and international adoption processes.

Infertility is a challenge faced by thousands, and members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are not exempt. Strength can be found, and faith bolstered as you read this groundbreaking book from the founder of the oldest and largest infertility support network in the LDS community. This long-awaited guide offer peace and hope for infertile LDS couples and those who love them. Topics include: unique challenges and blessings of being LDS and infertile, Mother’s Day and other holiday challenges, tips for supporting loved ones with infertility, strengthening a “family of two,” adoption, success stories and much more.

This guide is for any couple trying to conceive or a woman or couple thinking about adoption and even assisted reproduction. I’ve made my best attempt to cover all of the options you have. When we realize that we are infertile it can be hard to deal with the influx of emotions as well as information. As a fertile challenged woman myself I understand this. Yes there is a lot of info in my guide but I encourage you to take it at your own pace. It’s a hard road but you’re not alone by any means.

From the Back Cover: Using real-world cases, this clinical guide details the psychosocial challenges faced by patients navigating the world of medically assisted reproduction (MAR). It describes in depth the latest perspectives on counseling approaches to the evolving complexities of family creation, whether fertility issues are a presenting problem or occur during the course of therapy or the aftermath of a struggle with infertility.

Applying an evidence-based, cross-border approach, international experts not only discuss advanced perspectives on topics such as third-party reproduction, pregnancy loss, and adoption, but also newer issues of fertility preservation, “older” patient parenthood, GLBT and singles’ family creation. A comprehensive resource, it explores pioneering insights into fertility counseling such as spirituality, developing disclosure language, a counselor’s personal fertility issues, and more.

This is an essential aid for medical and mental health professionals to develop and refine the skills needed to treat the increasingly diverse and complex needs of MAR patients.

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About the Author: Sharon N. Covington is Director of Psychological Support Services, Shady Grove Fertility Reproductive Service Center, Rockville, Maryland; Associate Investigator, Intramural Research Program on Reproductive and Adult Endocrinology, National Institutes of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), National Institutes of Health (NIH), Bethesda, Maryland; and Assistant Clinical Professor, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Georgetown University School of Medicine, Washington, DC, USA.

From the Back Cover: Explains the basic and high-tech fertility choices

When getting pregnant gets hard, use this guide to help you succeed

Are you ready for a baby but having a hard time conceiving? This friendly guide uses humor, heartache, and the real-life experiences of actual patients to cover the complete fertility story—including the latest advances and hopes for the future. Find out when to see a specialist, what’s involved in treatment, and how to manage your worries.

The Dummies Way: Explanations in plain English; “Get in, get out” information; Icons and other navigational aids; Tear-out cheat sheet; Top-ten lists; A dash of humor and fun.

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About the Author: Jackie Meyers-Thompson is managing partner of Coppock-Meyers Public Relations/For Your Information Communications and a “professional” fertility patient.

It’s been said that we make plans ... and the gods laugh. Jackie has heard that laughter often. It took her longer than she expected, and yielded more than a few laughs, and tears, before she met her husband-to-be, Darren Thompson. But by 35, she was newly married and deliriously happy and felt that the rest of the story would soon fall into place. Jackie can be a slow learner.

Nonetheless, she’s an industrious worker. She loved writing and, as a result, carved her path in marketing and public relations. She had a loving husband and a successful business, so the only things left to add were a few cherubic children and her own Great American Novel. Two years and a slew of physicians later, Jackie had more than a few doubts whether her future would ever include children. But her persistence and focus paid off. Fertility For Dummies is, in part, Jackie’s story of the journey that landed her a book and a baby, and a lot more interest in and knowledge of the incredible yet inefficient process known as human reproduction.

When not writing, working, or sharing stories online, Jackie spends her time making plans. Some things never change.

Sharon Perkins is the nurse coordinator for the Cooper Center for In Vitro Fertilization in Marlton, New Jersey, one of the largest infertility centers in the United States, and has worked as an infertility nurse for the last six years. She previously worked as an RN in labor and delivery and neonatal intensive care, so her nursing experience covers every aspect of conception, pregnancy, delivery, and newborn care. She lives with her husband, John, an Air Force pilot, and a varying number of children, depending on which of her five children is living at home at the moment. This is her first book, although her children have been nagging her for years to stop telling them all the crazy things that happen in nursing and write them down.

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Compiler’s Note: See, particularly, Chapter 17: You’re Not in Kansas Anymore: Fertility and Adoption for Nontraditional Families (pp. 299-310).

Reviewed in Psychosomatic Medicine (Journal of the American Psychosomatic Society), May-June 1953 (Vol. XV, No. 3): This is a good book for the layman. The important facts are well organized, if in somewhat wordy fashion. Some of the exposition is too complex for the lay reader. The general tone is possibly too optimistic, and the impression on the reader may be that more can be dome for the sterile patient than is actually the fact. On the whole it is a useful book for the gynecologist to give to his patients, after first instructing them, thus giving the book sharper emphasis. — Benjamin Bacon

One couple takes you on a compelling journey through their infertility and snowflake adoption story. Their struggle highlights the value of families and faith. An insightful read for anyone dealing with infertility or helping someone who is.

From the Publisher: Finding Grace is the powerful, often humorous, and deeply moving story of one woman’s journey of broken dreams. It is the story of how a painful legacy of the past is confronted and met with peace. This book is for anyone who has struggled to understand why our desires—even the simplest ones—are sometimes denied or who has questioned where God is when we need him most. This story is about one woman’s unlikely road to motherhood. Finally, it’s a book about the “undeserved gift which is life itself.” It’s the story of “Finding Grace.” Donna VanLiere has entertained millions with her inspirational stories. In her new book, she gives us a candid look into her own life, a life filled with suffering and pain, but one that ultimately finds peace with itself.

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About the Author: Donna VanLiere is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of The Christmas Hope series and Angels of Morgan Hill. She lives in Franklin, TN, with her husband and three children.

From the Back Cover: Storms happen—sometimes predictably, often unpredictably. For parents, step-parents, grandparents, family, and friends who have experienced the death of a child or children, the deluge hits like a tsunami, drenching them physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. But the good news is that it is possible to rise above the devastating flood of despair and navigate onto a tranquil sea of hope.

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About the Author: Doug and B.J. Jensen have weathered the torrential rains of the death of a grown son, the loss of an unborn baby, unexpected barrenness, and discouraging failed attempts at adoption. Because of their sometimes overwhelming circumstances, they have traveled together through downpours of devastated dreams before they discovered the secret to finding hope and renewing their joy. Both have learned not to focus on the weather but on the Weather Maker; not to focus on the difficult challenges in their marriage, but on the Creator and Sustainer of Marriage.

The Jensens travel internationally as speakers, workshop facilitators. dramatists, and sign artists. They have written 18 books and produced 12 videos. The Jensens reside in San Diego near their surviving son, daughter-in-love, and three beautiful granddaughters.

From the Back Cover: The first comprehensive book to offer invaluable step-by-step advice for families with donor-conceived children.

Wendy Kramer, founder and director of the Donor Sibling Registry, and Naomi Cahn, family and reproductive law professor, have compiled a comprehensive and thorough guide for the growing community of families with donor-conceived children. Kramer and Cahn believe that all donor-conceived children’s desire to know their genetic family must be honored, and in Finding Our Families, they offer advice on how to foster healthy relationships within immediate families and their larger donor family networks based on openness and acceptance.

With honesty and compassion, the authors offer thoughtful strategies and inspirational stories to help parents answer their own, and their children’s, questions and concerns that will surely arise, including:

• How to support your children’s curiosity and desire to know about their ancestry and genetic and medical background.

• How to help children integrate their birth story into a healthy self-image.

• How to help your children search for their donor or half-siblings if and when they express interest in doing so.

Finding Our Families opens up the lives of donor-conceived people who may be coping with uncertainty, thriving despite it, and finding novel ways to connect in this uncharted territory as they navigate the challenges and rewards of the world of donor conception.

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About the Author: Wendy Kramer created the Donor Sibling Registry (DSR) website with her donor-conceived son, Ryan, in 2000 in the hope of connecting children conceived through sperm, egg, or embryo donation with their donors and half-siblings. Today, the DSR has more than 40,000 members. She lives in Nederland, Colorado.

Naomi Cahn is the Harold H. Greene Professor of Law at George Washington University and a senior fellow at the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute. She is internationally recognized for her research and writing on adoption. She lives in Washoington, D.C.

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By the Same Author: Families By Law: An Adoption Reader (with Joan Heifetz Hollinger; 2004, New York University Press); Test Tube Families: Why the Fertility Market Needs Legal Regulation (2009, New York University Press); and The New Kinship: Constructing Donor-Conceived Families (2013, New York University Press), among others.