Having a Baby...When the Old-Fashioned Way Isn't Working: Hope and Help for Everyone Facing Infertility » (Bargain)

Cindy Margolis is an accomplished host, television star, media magnet and the proud mother of three children.

Personal, easy to read, and possessed of a warm, welcome sense of humor… An excellent introduction for anyone facing infertility(Publishers Weekly)

Cindy Margolis may be known as the “most downloaded woman on the Internet,” but she was brought down to earth when she tried to conceive. Suddenly, she became another statistic: just one of the more than nine million women each year who are desperately trying to have a child.

After more than a year of disappointment and with a growing sense of insecurity, Cindy began a determined quest to have a family that included an array of treatments—including five in-vitro fertilizations and surrogacy—a journey that resulted in three happy and healthy children.

Now Cindy helps women navigate through the world of infertility treatments and procedures. Sincere, supportive, and funny, she provides the direction, advice, and information that could only come from a woman who's been in the trenches— and who has emerged battle-scarred, but victorious.

Publishers Weekly

Tackling a delicate issue with courage, wisdom and generosity, model Margolis (Celebrity spokesperson for "National Infertility Association" Resolve) shares the personal, emotional story of her long journey to pregnancy using in vitro fertilization. An oft-avoided subject, this guide to pursuing assisted reproductive therapies (ARTs) is meant to address the "biggest hurdle" in Margolis's own story, "the lack of readily available information and resources" that leaves couples facing the emotional and practical challenges of infertility with little support. Aside from a step-by-step look at the in vitro methods that eventually yielded Margolis a successful pregnancy, the authors provide a chapter on practical concerns ("Figuring out Costs, Insurance, and What Is and Isn't Covered") and, thoughtfully, stories from couples using an array different methods (surrogacy, adoption, etc.) for dealing with infertility; further, she sprinkles her text with the addresses and web sites of helpful organizations. Personal, easy to read and possessed of a warm, welcome sense of humor, Margolis's book makes an excellent introduction for anyone facing fertility issues, putting a hopeful face on a distressing topic, providing much-needed support and pointing the way forward.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Acknowledgments vii

Foreword Snunit Ben-Ozer, M.D. xi

Introduction: Welcome to the Reproductively Challenged Club 1

Part 1 Get Thee to a Specialist

1 Our Story 13

2 The High-Tech Journey Begins 25

3 Here's a Playboy-Go Make Me Some Sperm! Or Let's Get Clinical 51

4 If at First You Don't Succeed: Our Adventures in IVF Land 67

5 How Much Is That Baby in the Window? Figuring Out Costs, Insurance, and What Is and Isn't Covered 87

Part 2 Other Options for Growing a Family: Surrogacy, Gestational Surrogacy, Third-Party Donors, and Adoption

6 She's Having My Baby: Choosing Surrogacy 107

7 Going Shopping: Egg and Sperm Donation 141

8 Beyond Biology: Creating Your Family Through Adoption 165

Part 3 Where Do You Go from Here?

9 A Guy's Perspective 183

10 Hang In There! 195

Glossary 201

Resources 205

Index 211