The Couple's Guide to in Vitro Fertilization: Everything You Need to Know to Maximize Your Chances of Success

by Liza Charlesworth

Book Overview

Despite the fact that it is an expensive, complex, emotionally draining, and often last-ditch fertility treatment, there are now over 250,000 couples who consider in vitro fertilization (IVF) every year; more than 125,000 couples decide to undergo it. While dry, clinical information is available, there is a gaping need for sisterly advice from someone who's been through the process herself.From evaluating care and preparing for the complicated process...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0738208973
• ISBN13: 9780738208978
• Release Date: May 2004
• Publisher: Da Capo Lifelong Books
• Length: 312 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.5" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

The BEST book for beginning IVFers!! :)

I wish I would of found this book first! It's an easy read with so much valuable information. It covers everything from IVF lingo to sample cycles AND gives great commentary from women and men who have survived & succeeded with IVF. I couldn't put it down & constantly found myself sharing interesting info from the book with my husband. You won't be disappointed with this one!!! Best of luck to you!

Everything I needed to know in one book

When I found out we needed IVF in order to become parents, I didn't know much about it, didn't know anyone who had been through it, didn't live near any ART clinics, and was scared spitless... until I read this wonderful book. The author gives you sample schedules, explanations of typical procedures and medications, and many stories of what other people have been through. It is all in plain English, like you're talking to your best friend, but explains complicated terminology, and provides a great balance of being hopeful and yet logical/practical/cautious. We are now saving up for our first cycle and I feel very good about the process to come.

An extremely informative and BALANCED view of an emotionally and physically complex process.

Liza Charlesworth has done a service to infertile couples everywhere. As a mental health professional who treats infertile couples, I am compelled to say that this book gives a careful, thoughtful account of the pros and cons of IVF, with many helpful suggestions for self-advocacy for those pursuing the procedure. IT IS A VERY EMPOWERING, ENCOURAGING, INFORMATIVE VOLUME! I recommend it most highly. Although Ms. Charlesworth and her husband are themselves an "IVF Success Story", Ms. Charlesworth nonetheless has no "ax to grind"; that is she does a wonderful job encouraging others to make an independent decision as to whether IVF is truly right for THEM. Thank you, Ms. Charlesworth, for your engagingly written and deeply helpful book!

A Guy¹s Perspective

My wife and I are struggling with infertility. I don¹t know how it is for other couples (it varies, I¹m sure) but the inability to have a baby can be heartbreaking for guys, too. So it was nice to come across a guide aimed at couples. Liza Charlesworth¹s wise, heartfelt book provides superb advice on a bunch of key issues: picking the right doctor, understanding IVF protocol, getting your finances together, keeping sane. I especially enjoyed the insights from other women -- and men --who have struggled with the process. It gave my wife and I hope, which is worth everything.

Smart & Compassionate

By far the most useful book I have read on this topic. Charlesworth is simultaneously optimistic, warm, AND logical in her plain-language explanations of this complicated, overwhelming process. Reading it is like having a best friend who also happens to be a reproductive endocrinologist drop by for a few hours for coffee and a long chat! Charlesworth is an expert communicator--distilling detailed scientific processes into plain English. (My favorite is when she talks about the process of conception, and compares the navigation of sperm in the cervical canal to an action-adventure flick--as opposed to a tender romance movie--it's actually quite a feat for sperm to perform.) The author also sprinkles the book with enough information about her personal experience to reassure you that she's been there herself. But, she's not heavy-handed about it, as you read, you feel like the focus is on YOU and your experience rather than her and hers. I can't recommend it highly enough.