Planning Parenthood: Strategies for Success in Fertility Assistance, Adoption, and Surrogacy Book

Planning to become a parent is a profound experience, at times agonizing, hopeful, stressful, and joyous. Not everyone is able to become pregnant, however. When the journey to parenthood proves challenging, Planning Parenthood will guide prospective parents through the complicated mazes of assisted reproduction and adoption.

Specialist authors first describe fertility assistance, surrogacy, and adoption, clearly outlining the requirements of each strategy. They compare the medical, emotional, financial, and legal investments and risks involved with each of these options. Then they introduce the issues that people will need to consider when deciding which path to parenthood is best for them. Along the way these experts offer encouragement for changing course under any number of circumstances.

Supporting the detailed information in this book are personal stories of the often long, winding, and emotional road to parenthood — from in vitro fertilization to egg donation to surrogacy to adoption.

Armed with professional knowledge and inspired by the experiences of others who have gone before them, prospective parents will be informed and reassured by this unique resource.

Publishers Weekly

In this informative guide, five authors-two physicians, a psychologist, an epidemiologist and a lawyer-combine their expertise to explore and explain the various pathways to parenthood. Noting that each year in America hundreds of thousands of couples seek fertility advice after being unable to conceive, the authors set out to help readers decide on a strategy. Part one describes the options available: early fertility assistance, including hormone stimulation and intrauterine insemination; assisted reproductive technology (ART) such as in vitro fertilization using a couple's own eggs or sperm or donor sperm, eggs or embryos; using a surrogate; and domestic or international adoption. The authors assure that in most cases couples are able to reach their goal of birthing or adopting a child within two years, and although challenges for single, gay, lesbian or other nontraditional families may be greater, they are not insurmountable. The key, the authors argue, is knowing when to call a halt to a particular pathway that isn't working and move on to another: remaining flexible and open to various options is crucial to success. In part two, emotional, financial and legal issues are covered. First-person accounts, often quite fascinating, conclude each chapter. This panoramic view of the many routes to parenthood is both practical and encouraging. (June)