Challenging Conceptions: Planning a Family by Self-Insemination (For Women)

Rating:
Summary: Good information, some clarifications
Review: Challenging Conceptions was a useful book for any woman considering artificial insemination. It had good advice in both the practical and emotional arenas. However, Saffron should not have portrayed using a donor of another race in such a negative light. Studies have shown that mixed-race children have as high or even higher self-esteem than children of unmixed origin (as well as a lower incidence of birth defects, according to a study done in England). Otherwise, though, the book was good.

Rating:
Summary: Exhaustive coverage of all involved with self-insemination
Review: This is a fantastic book -- a thorough, exhaustive text on all that is involved with self-insemination. Lisa Saffron discusses everything from the how-to's for the do-it-yourselfer (down to how to transport sperm, how to inseminate, etc), to the experiences of donors, to discussions from the children. She covers the choices that must be made between anonymous and known donors, finding donors, telling others, etc. The legal aspects are fairly UK-specific, but all the rest is an absolute MUST for those considering self-insemination. Fantastic book.