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Rating: 
Summary: An instructive book, written with compassion and respect.
Review: An instructive book about assisted reproduction in the postmenoupausal years, written with great compassion and respect for the couples contemplating such a decision. Paulson and Sachs are obviously attuned to all of the emotional and ethical, as well as practical issues, that enter into such a decision. As a clinical discourse on post-menopausal pregnancy issues it is first rate. As the journey of a fictious woman who must deal with all of the complexities of making such a decision it is an emotional and compelling story.
Rating: 
Summary: An important aspect of the donor egg cycle was not discussed
Review: Part of the donor egg cycle for many donor egg recipients includes being on the medication Lupron. Being on Lupron for a number of weeks is like being in a twilight zone. With supressed natural hormones, one's normal functions are slowed and supressed until one is barely able to function. The hot flashes and headaches can be debilitating. Dr. Paulson does not address the issues of 1) what physical symptoms to expect when one's natural hormones are supressed and 2) how to deal with the physical symptoms. Although the book is generally informative, there is doubt left in my mind with respect to what other critical information may have been left out of the book. Dr. Paulson should have addressed the downside of Lupron therapy. I bought this book because I was searching for answers while undergoing a donor egg cycle. After the failure of my first fresh embryo transfer, I am currently undergoing downregulation for a frozen embryo transfer.UPDATE, FEB 2004. Eighteen month-old baby boy. It was totally worth it. Found a great support group of other donor egg moms. We talk about how to respond to strangers' queries, how to make it to the next cycle, what it' like to have kids at 47, etc. Support group includes lots of folks who are just thinking about donor egg or even donor embryo.
Rating:
Summary: fascinating discussion of conception through donated eggs
Review: This isn't so much a book about "Motherhood Late In Life" as it is about conception using donor eggs. As a 40+ woman pregnant for the first time (through traditional methods), I picked up this book after my first OB visit, thinking it would provide a good overview of some of the issues I might face. At the time, I didn't realize that the book was specifically about ART (assisted reproductive technology) and pregnancies through donated eggs; I assumed it was just about being an older mom. Nonetheless, once I started reading, I couldn't put the book down. It provides much more detail about the biology of conception than do any of the traditional pregnancy books. Juxtaposed with the detailed biology lessons are installments in the story of Sarah & Joe, an older (Sarah is 48; Joe is younger) couple that opts for donor egg use after years of more traditional fertility treaments. In telling the story of Sarah & Joe, the authors address the ethical issues of pregnancy in post-menopausal women in what struck me as a balanced, compassionate, and very thoughtul manner. In the Sarah/Joe story, they discuss the response Sarah & Joe elicit from family members, friends, Sarah's sister, Sarah's adult daughter from a previous relationship. Let's face it -- not everyone is going to be congratulatory & rushing to hold a baby shower for a 50 year old pregnant woman -- or a lesbian or single woman for that matter; nor do all folks embrace the idea of creating an embryo in a test tube rather than accepting whatever God apparently had in mind. And I think it would make a typical adult women a little put off to learn her mother (and her children's grandmother) was using a donor egg to become prenant again. Paulson & Sachs deal with the questions and challenges that women choosing egg donation (or even pregnancy later in life or under other non-traditional circumstances) may face, and their treatment is even-handed -- realistic, not pedantic or preachy, not utopian. I think this would be essential reading for anyone considering assistance in reproduction, especially egg donation. It would also be helpful for the friends and families of women who have elected to use donor eggs.
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