What to Expect When You're Experiencing Infertility: How to Cope with the Emotional Crisis and Survive

by Debby Peoples, Harriette Rovner Ferguson

Purchase at: Amazon.com

Format: Hardcover, 1st ed., 297pp.
ISBN: 0393041042
Publisher: Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
Pub. Date: January 1998

Description from Amazon.com

Editorial Reviews

Library Journal, 15 March 1998
The authors successfully discuss the decision-making process and emotional roller coaster that medical intervention, pregnancy loss, and adoption can bring and offer sound ideas, resources and coping methods . . .highly recommended . . . --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Aaron Britvan, counselor at law, co-chairperson of the adoption committee of the New York State Bar Association
A must read for those who are experiencing infertility and who wish to create a family, whether through adoption or through medical treatment. Thorough, thoughtful, sensitive...Experiencing Infertility is filled with valuable insights and is written with emotional understanding by two very empathetic individuals who have lived through it all. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Dr. Ellen Miller, physician specializing in infertility
From their unique perspectives as former patients and professionals who work in the field, the authors have done an outstanding job of educating all of us. No one should go through this crisis without knowing ...Experiencing Infertility. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Daniel Kenigsberg, M.D. Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, Long Island IVF
At the outset, the infertile couple needs a plan for the diagnosis and treatment of their condition. Too often, the medical aspects of infertility overwhelm the patient and the emotional issues are ignored. Peoples and Ferguson address emotional demands enabling the couple to carry on both through and beyond the crisis. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Science and Technology
[Ferguson and Peoples] have written a sensitive guide to the emotional trauma of infertility. The authors successfully discuss the decision-making process and emotional roller coaster that medical intervention, pregnancy loss, and adoption can bring and offer sound ideas, resources, and coping methods. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Perry-Lynn Moffitt, co-author of A Silent Sorrow: Pregnancy Loss
Experiencing Infertility provides comfort and insight into the emotional, medical, and financial ordeal couples face when they endure infertility. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Book Description

An essential resource for those experiencing infertility--the emotional crisis and how to resolve it. One out of every six couples in America is experiencing infertility. Yet, little has been written about how the average couple is supposed to cope with the biggest emotional, medical, and financial crisis of their lives. Written in a question-and-answer format, this sympathetic and practical book will be the one couples turn to on the road to resolving their infertility. It offers practical advice on how to contend with the emotional ups and downs of this crisis: from learning how to communicate feelings more effectively to coping with the losses of failed treatments or miscarriages. Included are chapters on dealing with family and friends, managing the stresses at work while going through medical treatment, knowing when to stop medical treatment, secondary infertility, advice for selecting and consulting with doctors, and working through loss. In chapters on acceptance and resolution, the authors offer practical advice for couples who decide to live child-free or who are considering adoption. Also included is a chapter geared toward the professional, and an appendix with self-help exercises and resource guides.

Book Info

Compassionate text on coping with infertility. Covers normal psychological reactions in a question-and-answer format. For consumers.

From the Back Cover

"What to Expect When You're Experiencing Infertility provides comfort and insight into the emotional, medical, and financial ordeal couples face when they endure infertility. This book will help men and women cope with the uncertainty of infertility and will enable professional caregivers to guide couples confronting this crisis." -Perry-Lynn Moffitt, coauthor of A Silent Sorrow: Pregnancy Loss

"At the outset, the infertile couple needs a plan for the diagnosis and treatment of their condition. Too often, the medical aspects of infertility overwhelm the patient and the emotional issues are ignored. Peoples and Ferguson address emotional demands enabling the couple to carry on both through and beyond the crisis." - Daniel Kenigsberg, M.D. Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, Long Island IVF

"From their unique perspectives as former patients and professionals who work in the field, the authors have done an outstanding job of educating all of us. No one should go through this crisis without knowing What to Expect When You're Experiencing Infertility." -Dr. Ellen Miller, physician specializing in infertility

"A must read for those who are experiencing infertility and who wish to create a family, whether through adoption or through medical treatment. Thorough, thoughtful, sensitive, What to Expect When You're Experiencing Infertility is filled with valuable insights and is written with emotional understanding by two very empathetic individuals who have lived through it all." -Aaron Britvan, counselor at law, co-chairperson of the adoption committee of the New York State Bar Association

The author, Debby Peoples & Harriette Rovner Ferguson , March 19, 1998

Practical advice and caring support for infertile couples.
Throughout our own personal experiences with infertility we endured many painful tests, treatments, emotional upheavals and losses. We learned that the process one must go through to find resolution can be a harrowing experience filled with uncertainty and crisis. Yet we also learned that if you want to become a parent-somehow-one day, you will. Which is why we wrote this book-to offer you hope and a way to help you survive during this most difficult time. Through the many stories presented in each chapter you will see that you are not alone in your struggle to create a family. There are so many couples out there who are experiencing the same pain and the same hope as you. From practical advice to caring support for your emotions we are confident that you will find what you need to make it through this crisis.

About the Author

Debby Peoples and Harriette Rovner Ferguson live on Long Island, New York. Debby Peoples is a past president of RESOLVE (the national nonprofit organization for the infertile) and recipient of their National Volunteer Award. Harriette Rovner Ferguson is a therapist who specializes in infertility. The authors have appeared on television and radio and lead infertility support groups.

Description from BarnesandNoble.com

From the Publisher

This comforting and informative book addresses the medical, financial, and emotional issues that couples must work through while resolving their infertility. Warm and practical, the book is divided into twelve chapters, grouped according to the four stages involved in resolving infertility: crisis, acceptance, resolution, and epilogue. An extensive section at the end addresses issues and concerns of professionals dealing with infertility patients. In addition, there are self-help exercises and a guide to resources.

Foreword

Prologue

Introduction

I Crisis

1 Who Am I? - Infertility and Identity 3

2 Secondary Infertility - Through the Eyes of a Parent 27

3 Communicating Effectively in Crisis - Gaining Understanding and Support from Your Spouse 39

4 Family and Friends - Living in a Fertile World 51

5 Working 9 to 5 - Balancing Career and Baby Making 71

6 Dealing with the Medical Community - The Challenges of the Infertility Patient 85

7 Working Through Loss - Coping with Grief and Mourning 103

II Acceptance

8 Religion, Spirituality, Myths, and Miracles - Keeping Your Faith 133

9 Decision Making and Infertility ... - Moving On 153

III Resolution

10 Child-Free Living - A Family of Two 171

11 Waiting for Your Baby - Adoption and Pregnancy 187

IV Epilogue 209

V Treating Infertility: A Guide for Professionals 213

App. I: Self-Help Guide 257

App. II: Resource Directory 263

Notes 271

References and Suggested Readings 279

Permissions 287

Index 289