Everyone has a story. And the more people begin to open up about struggles with infertility, the more varied and individual the stories become. Perhaps it’s no surprise then that a series of newly-released memoirs chronicling women’s journey’s to motherhood and their experiences with IVF and reproductive assistance have been hitting bookshelves. As the age of women giving birth grows and as IVF and reproductive technologies make advances, people now have more options than ever when hoping to conceive. And while each individual story and approach to IVF differs, depending on the patient and a host of other factors, it is worth reading about some very personalized stories. In a recent New York Times Book Review, book critic Mary Pols, reviews two such books, which tell different stories but do provide an overview of the infertility field, approaches world-wide and two very different women’s journeys: Conceivability: What I Learned Exploring the Frontiers of Fertility by Elizabeth Katkin and An Excellent Choice: Panic and Joy on My Solo Path to Motherhood by Emma Brockes. Most interestingly in relation to Hanabusa IVF, in Conceivability, Katkin recounts her experience working with a doctor who advised that, in fact, reduced hormones and drugs would help the forty-year old retrieve her eggs, leading to a successful pregnancy. This is precisely the kind of approach Hanabusa takes with IVF or, mini IVF, which relies on minimal drugs and smaller needles and a personalized approach to the patient. We were delighted to see these books hitting the shelves and always want our patients to stay fully-informed and abreast of both new advances in infertility medicine and powerful, personal stories such as the accounts in these two new books.
You can read the full book review here.