Rating: 
Summary: The importance of facts
Review: I think this book stresses the importance of facts and becoming educated on making life decisions. Having children and having a career are both choices and with choices in life there are always consequences. However, what Hewlett points out is that women have been given false information in terms of how long they can wait to have children. Having fertility information at 25 (as opposed to 45 when it's too late) can be helpful when attempting to plan for both career and family and I think her message is just that simple. I agree with her suggestion to look at where you want to be at 45 and plan backwards, however, there is one tiny stipulation. Just because you have a plan, life is full of surprises that cannot be forecast, foreseen, or prevented and plans have to remain flexible enough to change. For example, you can plan to get married at 27, but you may not meet your partner until you are 32.
I think the key is understanding the consequences and potential consequences of making these decisions. I would love to say that in a perfect world, you can have a great career and a great family. However, when maintaining a balance, both areas may not get full attention all the time. Life is a juggling act. You may only be 80% productive on your job and 80% productive on childrearing. But that is much better than neglecting one or the other because both are important.
Rating: 
Summary: Influential but flawed
Review: This book has many biases and flaws. Other reviewers have already gone into detail on these points, so I won't belabor them. I gave this book 2 stars because it created huge waves when released: was the subject of many magazine articles and television shows in the following months. So, if you are like me and enjoy keeping on top of books that have helped shape the news, note that this was one of the most most talked-about books of 2002. That being said, my other point is this: there is a business in making people scared and prophesizing doom and gloom. Does a woman's fertility decline as she ages? Sure. But it varies wildly from person to person. Do you really want to put your money towards trying to scare the wits out of high acheiving North American women, making them feel even more pressured than they already do? I, for one, would rather not.
Rating: 
Summary: LADIES!! DON'T LISTEN TO THIS [person]
Review: I asked my OBGYN about this book. He laughed and told me that one third of his practice is first time mothers over 40, and two thirds are first time mothers over 35. I got pregnant (unplanned) at 35. I guess that "fertility falling off a cliff" jazz is a little untrue. (didn't Ms. Hewlett have a child at 51? HMMMM) This woman is NOT a doctor and has no idea what she is talking about. ...
Rating:
Summary: Methinks the naysayers protest too much...
Review: Many readers have gotten so angry about this book, calling it un-feminist and saying it's pushing the philosophy that becoming a mother and living a "traditional" life should be a priority for every woman. This is simply not true. Clearly, the intended audience for this book is the group of professional women out there who *do* intend, perhaps vaguely, to have children at some point. This book is for them: it addresses the biological realities common to all women, and corrects the notion that conceiving a baby late in life will come easily to most of them. It's saying that for these women, thoughtful planning is crucial. Any way you slice it, that's sound advice. Forget how you personally feel about Sylvia Hewlett: the science is indisputable, and the science says that for every 46-year-old movie star who manages to conceive, there are many others who will try and be disappointed. I know from my own experience as a relatively young mother that there are many women out there who have been devastated by infertility directly related to their having, simply put, waited too long. For them, this book would have been invaluable. For those of you who are happily childfree, good for you. But why are you reading this book? It is not written for you, and your anger over its "implications" is uninformed. Feminism is about giving women choices, remember? Yes, even the choice to become a mother.
Rating: 
Summary: A Book that Every Young Person Should Read on Life's Choices
Review: Finally, someone has the courage to tell the painful truth about the challenges professional women face in the United States. This is a well-researched and thoughtful analysis of the hard, cold facts: many professional women are not having children. The author is providing a service to young women and the country by revealing the stories of so many women who have struggled to have both career and family. Surely, society loses out if we do not enable women to both contribute in their professional lives and to be happy in their personal lives, which may mean finding a mate and raising children. This book presents a challenge not just for women, but for our society to ensure that we provide the supports necessary so that no one has to choose between their job and a life. Creating a life is an eye-opener and a passionate call for reforms that can benefit all of us, but especially all our children, who are the future of this country.
Rating:
Summary: Recommended to all women and their male counterparts
Review: The modern views of Sylvia Hewlett's are obviously presented throughout her novel "Creating a Life: Professional Women and the Quest for Children." This novel illustrates and accurately captivates the struggles of a woman in the 21st century by exploring and the heartbreak that accompanies it.
As a young female, growing up in a single parent household, I am able to get a first hand look at the sacrifices my mother had to endure to pursue her professional career while raising a child. Wanting to pursue a professional career myself, the issues of having children arose while reading this novel.
I am able to say that this novel is useful to me, and to any young woman wanting more out of life. This is an excellent read, portraying real issues that are to come in the near future. This book is recommended to women who illustrate a need for a professional life, and their counterparts who support them.
Rating:
Summary: We need to overthrow patriarchy: change job schedules
Review: This is a good survey that show us the problems we are facing because of patriarchy. The problems we, professional women, face is how to manage work and family, which as a consequence also affect men. And Why is this? well in part because under patriarchy these job schedules were designed for men to work outside home and women to stay at home taking care of the family, and since women earned participation in men's world, society allowed them this under the male rule. This means that this survey invites us to see that we need reforms in our workplace, and need as some authors suggest to work to overthrow patirarchy, the ancient system where everything was made to serve males. So the problem is that women have gained participation in men's world but under male rule. We need to change this, and one thing to start is by changing job schedules, so both men and women can enjoy work and family. Recent statistics show the trend of women going to work outside home, and an increasing number of stay-at home dads. Why is this? Because of patriarchy, and because someone has to take care of our family. That is a reality of life, we grow and want to have a husband/wife and children, and this requires to take care of them which requires to have time to do it.
Rating:
Summary: I'll have a decaf soy latte and pick a baby or two, I'm busy
Review: An interesting read but I can save future readers some time. Babies are not found at the office or as a bonus for closing the deal.
Rating:
Summary: An eye-opener
Review: I found this a fascinating book, and a real eye-opener. First, I want to refer to several of the most recent reviews of this book I just read. No offense - but I think these reviews were written by bitter women, probably unmarried and childless. If a woman chooses to be single and childless, so be it, and Ms. Hewlett indicates so! But for those who would like the fulfillment of having children in their lives, Ms. Hewlett provides them with valuable information, that is not spoken of in our society. We live in a society in which women and men are both expected to work crazy, long work-weeks, and thus, it's hard for both sexes to have a private life. What Ms. Hewlett does is raise awareness that it is not so easy for women to conceive after a certain age. As a 27-year-old married woman in graduate school, who plans to have a career and children, I found her information extremely informative. I will make a knowledgable decision when to plan children and how to plan my career, with help from information in her book. I also hope that neither my husband nor I will need to be in the office so long that we'll forget what I believe is most important in life - Love, and significant relationships. To all the men and women out there: don't forget your personal lives!!! That doesn't mean you have to be married and/or have children, that's each individual's choice. But remember that at the end of the day, and at the end of our lives, which in this crazy world can come at any time - don't be alone.
Rating:
Summary: Eye Opener for Thirty-Something Professional Women
Review: This book was very insightful and based on real-life research. I am thirty-one and have spent the last ten years focused solely on my career as a professional. This book opened my eyes to the fact that I really don't have forever to start a family. The book follows several successful women in a variety of fields and discusses the challenges they face with finding a spouse and starting a family as they get older. These women tell their tales of how they basically woke up one day and realized they were forty and single. Many of them faced personal challenges as they drained all options to get pregnant and were unsuccessful. This book is definitely an interesting read.
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