Fighting At The Fertility Front


Book Description

"Throughout the entire history of world armed conflict, the proportion of battle injuries involving the genitals was minimal--rarely above 5%. But sadly, by the end of 2007, this statistic was no longer valid for the U.S. military. While standard-issue body armor protects the torso, some lower extremity wounds are so severe that all or part of the reproductive organs are obliterated." --E Scott Sills, MD PhD As America picks up the pieces from more than a decade of war, a caliper has never been laid across one critical casualty--the long-term consequences of military service on the fertility of those in uniform. Written for a general audience, "Fighting At The Fertility Front" includes separate chapters for men & women and follows their journeys from reception & basic training to far-away places like the open burn pits of Afghanistan, and back. The list of ingredients here is provocative: Sex, soldiers' fertility, overseas service, and the "military-industrial-congressional complex" that funds it all...or, in the case of fertility treatment for Veterans, paradoxically denies funding. This one-of-a-kind book confronts some deeply unsettling questions from our armed service members and their loved ones: Should I be worried about fertility if my partner is in the military? How can hazards of defense work diminish future reproductive capacity? Is it true that the Army's standard combat uniform is coated with a potential reproductive toxin? The answers may surprise you. Before deciding on a fertility attack plan, you need credible intelligence about the target. Until now, there has never been any field-book outlining maneuvers to maximize the chances of a military patient growing his or her family. Recognizing that fertility after deployment is another "unknown unknown" of military service, this book helps guide a clear way to bring back baby.




Fighting Infertility


Book Description

"As Samantha's and Kyle Busch's public lives grew more pronounced, their private life was being torn apart. The frustrations and uncertainty of their fertility problems took a toll on them as individuals and as a couple, creating a cyclone of emotions that threatened everything they had worked so hard for. Through these trials, they learned how to build a stronger relationship, foster a deeper faith, and find humor through the tears. They also discovered a passion for helping other couples gain access to fertility treatments. In this memoir, Samantha uses her voice to break the silence and stigma that surround the infertility community. By sharing practical advice as well as candid and inspiring stories of her journey, she provides support, validation, community, and education for others experiencing similar tribulations"--




Conceivability


Book Description

The “Jason Bourne of fertility” (The New York Times Book Review) presents a personal and deeply informative account of one woman’s journey through the global fertility industry. On paper, conception may seem like a simple biological process, yet this is often hardly the case. While many would like to have children, the road toward conceiving and maintaining a pregnancy can be unexpectedly rocky and winding. Lawyer Elizabeth Katkin never imagined her quest for children would ultimately involve seven miscarriages, eight fresh IVF cycles, two frozen IVF attempts, five natural pregnancies, four IVF pregnancies, ten doctors, six countries, two potential surrogates, nine years, and roughly $200,000. Despite her three Ivy League degrees and wealth of resources, Katkin found she was woefully undereducated when it came to understanding and confronting her own difficulties having children. After being told by four doctors she should give up, but without an explanation as to what exactly was going wrong with her body, Katkin decided to look for answers herself. The global investigation that followed revealed that approaches to the fertility process taken in many foreign countries are vastly different than those in the US and UK. In Conceivability, Elizabeth Katkin, now a mother of two, exposes eye-opening information about the medical, financial, legal, scientific, emotional, and ethical issues at stake. “A well-researched, informative, and positive account of a very long journey to motherhood” (Kirkus Reviews), Conceivability sheds light on the often murky and baffling world of conception science. Her book is an invaluable and inspiring text that will be a boon to others navigating the deep and “choppy waters” of fertility treatment (Publishers Weekly), and her chronicle of one of the most difficult, painful, rewarding, and loving journeys a woman can take is as informative as it is poignant.




Fighting Fertility


Book Description

By the end of her twenties, Valorie Ciechanowski was ready to settle down and start a family with the love of her life. After pursuing a successful career in the music industry and landing multiple once-in-a-lifetime opportunities, it was her time to step out of the limelight and into a quieter chapter to raise a family. Now was the moment to enjoy married life and focus on her true dream: becoming a mother. After nearly a year of trying to get pregnant to no avail, Valorie sought the help of fertility doctors. Heartbreakingly, at only thirty-one years young, Valorie received a diagnosis that would shape the next years of her life: infertile. In her memoir, Fighting Fertility, Valorie exposes her pain and loss in searing anecdotes. Taking you through the stages of her grief, Valorie tells the story of bottomless pain, ferocity of self, and the remarkable role that never-ending faith can play in your life if you let it. 13




Hannah's Hope


Book Description

Hannah’s Hope is intended as a guide to assist you in making wise decisions as you struggle through your grief of not yet conceiving, losing a child, or struggling through the adoption process.




An Excellent Choice


Book Description

When British journalist, memoirist, and New York-transplant Emma Brockes decides to become pregnant, she quickly realises that, being single, 37, and in the early stages of a same-sex relationship, she's going to have to be untraditional about it. From the moment she decides to stop "futzing" around, have her eggs counted, and "get cracking"; through multiple trials of IUI, which she is intrigued to learn can be purchased in bulk packages, just like Costco; to the births of her twins, which her girlfriend gamely documents with her iPhone and selfie-stick, Brockes is never any less than bluntly honest about her extraordinary journey to motherhood.She quizzes her friends on the pros and cons of personally knowing one's sperm donor, grapples with esoteric medical jargon and the existential brain-melt of flipping through donor catalogues and conjures with the politics of her Libertarian OB/GYN-all the while exploring the cultural circumstances and choices that have brought her to this point. Brockes writes with charming self-effacing humour about being a British woman undergoing fertility treatment in the US, poking fun at the starkly different attitude of Americans. Anxious that biological children might not be possible, she wonders, should she resent society for how it regards and treats women who try and fail to have children?Brockes deftly uses her own story to examine how and why an increasing number of women are using fertility treatments in order to become parents-and are doing it solo. Bringing the reader every step of the way with mordant wit and remarkable candour, Brockes shares the frustrations, embarrassments, surprises, and, finally, joys of her momentous and excellent choice.




The Night Battles


Book Description

A remarkable tale of witchcraft, folk culture, and persuasion in early modern Europe. Based on research in the Inquisitorial archives of Northern Italy, The Night Battles recounts the story of a peasant fertility cult centered on the benandanti, literally, "good walkers." These men and women described fighting extraordinary ritual battles against witches and wizards in order to protect their harvests. While their bodies slept, the souls of the benandanti were able to fly into the night sky to engage in epic spiritual combat for the good of the village. Carlo Ginzburg looks at how the Inquisition's officers interpreted these tales to support their world view that the peasants were in fact practicing sorcery. The result of this cultural clash, which lasted for more than a century, was the slow metamorphosis of the benandanti into the Inquisition's mortal enemies—witches. Relying upon this exceptionally well-documented case study, Ginzburg argues that a similar transformation of attitudes—perceiving folk beliefs as diabolical witchcraft—took place all over Europe and spread to the New World. In his new preface, Ginzburg reflects on the interplay of chance and discovery, as well as on the relationship between anomalous cases and historical generalizations.




Intimacy Post-injury


Book Description

PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) and TBI (traumatic brain injury) have been called the "signature wounds" of the recent war. The bomb blast has been the "signature weapon" of these conflicts, which primarily affect the lower exposed areas of the body, including the extremities and pelvic region. Fortunately there are many strategies to mitigate resulting sexual problems.




White Fragility


Book Description

The New York Times best-selling book exploring the counterproductive reactions white people have when their assumptions about race are challenged, and how these reactions maintain racial inequality. In this “vital, necessary, and beautiful book” (Michael Eric Dyson), antiracist educator Robin DiAngelo deftly illuminates the phenomenon of white fragility and “allows us to understand racism as a practice not restricted to ‘bad people’ (Claudia Rankine). Referring to the defensive moves that white people make when challenged racially, white fragility is characterized by emotions such as anger, fear, and guilt, and by behaviors including argumentation and silence. These behaviors, in turn, function to reinstate white racial equilibrium and prevent any meaningful cross-racial dialogue. In this in-depth exploration, DiAngelo examines how white fragility develops, how it protects racial inequality, and what we can do to engage more constructively.




Ever Upward


Book Description

"When are you having kids?" "Why don't you just adopt?" These innocent, well-meaning questions everyone asks couples, especially women of a certain age. To those 1 in 8 couples who undergo infertility treatments, these questions do not feel at all innocent or well-meaning, but invalidating to the battle they're fighting and the difficulty and pain involved in the adoption process. "Ever Upward" is Justine Froelker's surprising story of triumph over terrible luck. This is the story of how Justine redefined her childless life and learned to be okay, whole and happy with a full childfree life. "Ever Upward" is a story that resonates with many: a story of pain, struggle, recovery, triumph and acceptance. Ever Upward fills the current gap on the infertility bookshelf, providing a voice to those silenced by infertility, opening the conversation to the other side asking for understanding and acceptance of the path that sadly doesn't include children; challenging us all to consider more than one happy ending. "Ever Upward" is Justine's story, and yet it is every woman's story, mother or not, because behind the wall of shamed silence, the smile and "I can do everything" attitude lies millions of women suffering with the pain of infertility. Join Justine as she shows us that the connection to our stories is the only way back to the truth of who we are.