Everything Conceivable by Liz Mundy (Book Review)

Infertility Warrior — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 19:17:58 -0500

What a fascinating book "Everything Conceivable" by Liza Mundy is for anyone that has been involved with Assisted Reproductive Technology (A.R.T.) The subtitle is How Assisted Reproduction is Changing Our World.

This book takes you on a tour of the beginnings of ART - first documented in the late 1800's with a woman unknowingly was artificially inseminated by a doctor (and intern donor) after the woman's husband admitted he was sterile due to a venereal disease he had contracted. Apparently to her dying day she thought that the baby she had was biologically her husbands - yikes!

Thankfully we women are super empowered these days with technology and information. Why the pioneers of In Vitro were not given a Nobel Peace Prize is unbelievable to me after I read just how difficult this procedure was to figure out - both retrieving the eggs and perfecting a culture for the embryos to thrive in.

She not only talks about the technology, but also about the ethical considerations and real life perspectives. I loved that she brought up the fact that many celebrity moms that are "older" and who benefit from the publicity of their pregnancy and newborn(s) usually leave out the pesky detail of having had help from IVF and/or donor eggs. It is a real problem that perpetuates the notion that women in their mid to late 40's are using their own eggs to have babies - overwhelmingly they are not.

The book talks about an ethical issue that is near an dear to my heart - frozen embryos. I have 4 from when I was 39 that are in essense, being held hostage by my ex in a lab in California until he finds he has a heart or a judge orders him to relinquish them as he had agreed to when they were created. As Celine Dion has said of her frozen embryo "This frozen embryo that is in New York is my child waiting to be brought to life."

Why infertile women have different reproductive "right to choose" after conception is something I will never understand. In what other circumstance, after conception, does a man get to choose what happens to the life he helped create? No where. No woman 3 days after conception would be forced to take a morning after pill. Apparently as an infertile, our 'right to choose' starts after implantation - at least according to current case law. But I digress . . .

Everything Conceivable is for anyone that wants to know how the infertility business works behind the scenes and how it is truly changing our world. The Fertility Hope pendant and my company Life Medals Message Jewelry was inspired by my struggle and this book gave me a whole new appreciation and understanding of the world I have joined.

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Everything Conceivable by Liz Mundy (Book Review)