Book review

I mentioned last week that I borrowed some IF books from the library. I just finished the first one and wanted to give an update. I have to say that I don't recommend it. I feel kinda bad if I give out the name of the book, but I don't want anyone to waste time reading it.

So what was so bad about the book? First, it got some pretty basic things wrong. It had a few sidebars scattered throughout the book. One of them had the usual "when to see a fertility specialist" information. Except it didn't make any sense. First it said see a specialist if you are over 35 and have been trying for 3-6 months. OK, that seemed normal. But then it advised you to see a specialist if you are under 35 and have been trying for a couple months? What?! Why are younger sent to a specialist earlier?

Maybe I should have known then that to stop reading the book, but I'm of the frame of mind that once I start a book I need to finish it. (OK, my one exception is Moby Dick, which I tried to read twice but just couldn't get past all the chapters on whales). Anyway, my next sign that the book was crazy was this description of "dipsticking." Do any readers here partake of dipsticking? Apparently it is a way to check if AF has arrived in public. And, yes, it does draw its name from the dipstick you check car oil with. Think of sticking a dipstick down your pants...in public...in an airplane of all places...with the flight attendent right there. And she insists no one noticed. Maybe she thinks no one notices the way people who pick their nose in their car don't think anyone notices, but they do.

I just can't picture how this is done discreetly. If any of you do this, please enlighten me.

But the real problem with the book is that she is way too optimistic. Things are going to work out for everyone once we have a plan! There are all sorts of ways to end up with a baby so no need to get worried! Once you figure out what method is best for you things just fall into place! The thing is, the author did go through 5 IVFs (the last one was successful) and then used a surrogate. So clearly she went through a very hard journey. I wanted to read about that journey and know how she overcame those struggles. She glosses over the pain of IF and skips right to how happy she is now with 3 kids.


(And if you've made it this far, I'll reveal the book. It's called "Having a baby...when the old-fashioned way isn't working" by Cindy Margolis. I was intrigued by the book b/c she is a RESOLVE spokeswoman.)