It has been a crazy year for Nadya Suleman and she has taken the rest of America on her wild ride after giving birth to octuplets.

After dinner, my uncle pulled out the letter J.D. Salinger sent him with his favorite book, The Landsmen by Peter Martin. The letter was typewritten, brief and thoughtful. It read exactly like a Salinger short story, a worrisome tone from a man who wanted to make it clear that he needed his beloved copy of the book back afterward, as if he was fearful that my uncle would love it so much that he would abscond with this out-of-print, seldom-read book.

Dinner for two at that little Italian place you've been meaning to try. A suggestive email sent around mid-day. A bottle of massage oil which mysteriously is left on your side table. Long-stemmed strawberries. A box with a note to open it when you're alone. Oh--and presentation notes due on your bosses desk before you leave work and three kids who all want to tell you about what happened at recess at the exact. same. time. It's Valentine's Day in the real world.

Just as you begin to see pregnant bellies everywhere when you're undergoing fertility treatments, you also start to notice it as a plot device in pieces of fiction. Were characters always experiencing infertility and loss, but I never noticed until it was on my daily horizon, or has infertility exploded onto the page in recent years much in the same way it has made it's way to magazine covers and news stories?

Several years ago, the New York Times reported on a new at-home fertility test and stories about the product pop up from time to time on the Internet either touting its greatness or slamming it for its irresponsibility. Since the release of Fertell, other companies have put out their own version of the test including First Response.