DI Mom

A few resouces

In response to a comment on my last post, here are a few resources regarding telling.  These are for hetero couples but I saw several books for lesbian couples.

• DCN (Donor Conception Network) Telling & Talking Series (free)

• My Story: For Children Conceived by Donor Insemination (DCN - scroll down to the bottom)
• Before You Were Born: Our Wish for a Baby (Amazon)
• Hope & Will Have a Baby: The Gift of Sperm Donation (Amazon)
• Let Me Explain: A Story About Donor Insemination (Amazon)

Full disclosure -- I have only read the free DCN items.  None of the other books really struck me.  That's why I'm trying to write my own. 

If any of you have read these, what did you think?  Do you have any others to add to the list?

Book review

I am fairly disappointed by how few books there are about DI.  While there is a lot of information on the internet, I think that reading a variety of first-hand narratives would be helpful for people who are just beginning to consider DI.  So, I was very pleased when I found a new book titled Making Babies the Hard Way: Living with Infertility and Treatment.  This book follows a British couple as they go from diagnosis of azoospermia to exploring various treatments to deciding how many cycles are too many. (Boy, do I remember agonizing over that point!)

While some of the procedures and costs are different in the UK, their experience closely mirrored our own.  Because it is based on a diary that the author kept, she includes some very intimate and intense conversations that she and her husband had in regards to infertility.  These events clearly highlight the need for both parties to be in full agreement before embarking on the DI journey.

At times, the story line is a little muddled. The author has a lot of friends in whom she confides and it is sometimes difficult remember who is who.  She is also a practicing Buddhist and writes about that quite a bit.  (It's a little odd so see Buddhist terms mixed in with infertility jargon in the glossary.)  Overall, though, I think that this book is a worthwhile read, especially for those just starting out.