Baby B

Rating:
Summary: The IVF Spousal Primer
Review: When a substantial part of Baby B was published in the New Yorker in June of 2002, my wife went off to the hammock for an uninterrupted read. When she returned, she simply set the magazine down beside me as if to tell me she had just been primed on how to be the perfect spouse. The timing was impeccable; I was about to undergo the first of 4 IVF cycles in Boston, and Baby B gave me an idea of what I'd be in for, from injections to bed rest. Baby B is particularly engaging because it is written from the support partner's point of view; a departure from most infertility or birthing sagas that focus on the psychology of the birth mother. There are tender moments-such as the women in the waiting room eager to help those with children, because they anticipate what a child-so painfully absent from their own lives-would want or need. Ryan is also well versed in the significance of a high FSH, and how devastating it is when day three labs exclude a couple from IVF.

We should all be so lucky to have a doctor and staff like the Whirl. If I lived in California, I'd high tail it to his clinic. Because the couple endures only one IVF cycle-the book gives readers who are about to embark on the IVF road an appropriate amount of hope.

A must read for all ART patients, their families and friends. Hopefully a larger publisher will buy the sub rights and keep this book in print. A+