The Best Little Infertility Books In the World

This list is just getting started! I’ve also create a book icon and link to the list on my side bar for when it starts slipping down into the valley of lost posts…

Keep adding books into the comments section below. I’ll update this post frequently, moving the books from the comments section into the correct category. Please post other comments as well–books you think should be taken off the list or books that need a second cheerleader shouting out good things.

Last thought–like the blogroll, most of these books fit into more than one category. Therefore, I placed them where they seemed to fit best.

General Infertility

• Resolving Infertity by Diane Aronson and the Staff of Resolve (the “Bible” of infertility books, this covers everything from the various hormones utilized in reproduction, tests and procedures, and lastly, your emotions).
• The Infertility Survival Handbook by Elizabeth Swire Falker (a great companion to Resolving Infertility. It gives you an insider’s view of tests and procedures while touching upon other paths to parenthood).
• What to Expect When You Are Experiencing Infertility by Debby Peoples (written in a Q & A format that addresses questions both medical and emotional in nature).
• How to Get Pregnant by Sherman Silber (A fact-based book, with a good explanation of the basics of human reproduction, what can go wrong, which treatments are currently in vogue, and the author’s expert opinion on these treatments).
• Without Child: Experiencing and Resolving Infertility by Ellen Sarasohn Glazer and Susan Lewis Cooper (though some of the information is dated, it does have many first-hand accounts by men–something lacking in other infertility books).
• Everything Conceivable by Liza Mundy (a behind the scenes look at reproductive technology and where science is heading).

Adoption

• *Adopting After Infertility by Patricia Irwin Johnston (the stuff other adoption books forget to say: instead of focusing on the how-to of adoption, this book covers the secret questions you ask yourself along the journey and helps you understand that you’re not alone as you make your decisions). *This book went out of print in 2007. The new version is…
• Adopting: Sound Choices, Strong Families by Patricia Irwin Johnston (From the Perspectives Press website: “If you’ve been struggling with infertility issues, are a single person or a partner in a same-sex family, chances are adoption has come up in your thinking about a means of building your family. Perhaps you’ve thought a little, perhaps a lot. Ultimately, the key question that you need to answer is both simple and complex: Is the adoption option right for you and your family?”)

Third-Party Reproduction

• Helping the Stork: The Choices and Challenges of Donor Insemination by Carol Frost Vercollone, Heidi Moss, and Robert Moss (there aren’t very many books out there for people who use donor sperm, but this one was very good. It is primarily directed at couples with male factor infertility, but it also addresses single women and lesbian couples).
• Mommies, Daddies, Donors, Surrogates: Answering Tough Questions and Building Strong Families by Diane Ehrensaft (a book covering the emotional journey of utilizing third party reproductive techniques. An excellent read for any family debating this route as the author provides important questions to consider before embarking on your journey).

Living Child-Free

• Sweet Grapes: How to Stop Being Infertile and Start Living Again by Jean W. Carter and Michael Carter (a wonderful book for helping people keep infertility from taking over their entire emotional life as well as help you off the roller coaster when you realize enough is enough).

Pregnancy Loss

• Help, Comfort, and Hope after Losing Your Baby in Pregnancy or the First Year by Hannah Lothrop (the author’s own experience with miscarriage puts her in a good space to help others through the grieving process).
• A Silent Sorrow: Pregnancy Loss by Ingrid Kohn and Perry-Lynn Moffitt (a wonderful guide to getting the support you need after a pregnancy loss).
• Empty Cradle, Broken Heart by Deborah L. Davis (again, personal experiences and great advice about miscarriage help one make their way through the grieving process. Also contains a chapter on pregnancy after a loss).
• Empty Arms by Sherokee Ilse (one of the first books written for parents to help them through a pregnancy loss).
• When a Baby Dies, the Experience of Late Miscarriage, Stillbirth, and Neonatal Death by Nancy Kohner and Alix Henley (the authors use personal experiences to explain the grief that comes from losing a child and to help readers through that grief).
• Miscarriage After Infertility: A Woman’s Guide to Coping by Margaret Comerford Freda and Carrie F. Semelsberger (a book that specifically covers losses that occur during infertility).
• Coming to Term: Uncovering the Truth About Miscarriage by Jon Cohen (written by a famous science writer, this book explains why and how miscarriage happens).
• Preventing Miscarriage by Jonathan Scher (I’m not finished yet with this one, and I don’t love the happy smoke blown in the introduction, but this book offers a lot of helpful advice in knowing the right questions to ask your doctor after a loss and treatment options. As well as advice on failed IVF cycles).
• When a Baby Dies: A Handbook for Healing and Helping by Rana K. Limbo (this one is published by Resolve Through Sharing/RTS which provides the “gold standard” in bereavement training).
• Mrs. Duck and The Woman by Kara L.C. Jones (a conversation about bereavement after the loss of a child).

Meditation/Non-Western Medicine/Emotions

• Conquering Infertility by Alice Domar (probably the best book on the market for managing the emotions that accompany infertility from the founder of the Mind/Body Program for Infertility).
• The Infertility Cure by Randine Lewis (Chinese medicine techniques and treatments for infertility by an acupuncturist and herbalist).

Personal Accounts

• Down Came the Rain by Brooke Shields (wonderful narrative chronicling her move from pregnancy loss and infertili
  ty to motherhood. It was a bumpy road, with postpartum depression. A must read for anyone who is having difficulties parenting after infertility).
• Baby B by Michael Ryan (how can you not like a book that begins: “I have been telling my friends that what I am injecting into my wife, Doreen, this week is crushed, powdered Chinese hamster ovaries”? Infertility from the male point-of-views with multiples to boot!).
• Inconceivable: A Woman’s Triumph over Despair and Statistics by Julia Indichova (the book you need to read if you’re feeling alone in your journey or if you’ve ever been told by a doctor that you’ll never carry your own child. A Secret Hope Story if there ever was one).

Books For Children About Adoption/Treatments/Infertility (Picture Books or Older)

• You’re Not My Real Mother by Molly Friedrich (despite the in-your-face title, this is a picture book where an adoptive mother explains to her daughter why she is her “real mother.” While they may not look alike, they share all the same bonds as any other mother and daughter).
• We Were Gonna Have a Baby, But We Had an Angel Instead by Pat Schwiebert (a picture book for children that explains pregnancy loss. A must-have if you’re going through secondary infertility).
• I Love You Like Crazy Cakes by Rose Lewis (a picture book–also a board book–that describes the author’s journey to China to adopt her daughter)
• The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Patterson (a middle-grade fiction book about a girl in the foster care system who longs for her biological mother, but ends up learning the true meaning of family)
• Tell Me Again About The Night I Was Born by Jamie Lee Curtis (a child asks to hear again the story of how she was born and came to her family)
• A Mother for Choco by Keiko Kasza (a little bird is adopted by a bear and learns that babies do not always look like their mommies).
• And Tango Makes Three by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson (the true story of a penguin in the Central Park Zoo who has two daddies)
• Mommy, Was Your Tummy Big by Carolina Nadel (an elephant discovers his/her conception story. There are two versions–a donor egg and a donor insemination version)

Videos and Audio Recordings

• Technostorks by Andrei Kirilenko (a film documenting the IVF attempts of three individuals. A great film if you want a heads up before your own IVF attempt or to be shown to someone outside the experience so they better understand infertility).

Fiction with Infertility Themes

• Inconceivable by Ben Elton (a couple is thrown into turmoil when they discover that they can’t conceive. This book touches upon many themes–love, relationships, and careers).

Spiritual/Religious

• When Empty Arms Become a Heavy Burden by Sandra Glahn and William Cutrer (this is written from a Christian perspective and discusses the emotional, financial, physical and spiritual components of infertility).
• Moments for Couples Who Long for Children by Ginger Garrett (as the title implies, this is written to be a daily reading for couples who are battling infertility. It focuses more on the emotional and spiritual areas than health items. I (GLouise) liked many of the questions that Ginger posed such as “Is G-d trying to punish me?” or “Will I ever be happy again?”).