Happy New Year! Bring on 2011!!

We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year's Day. --Edith Lovejoy Pierce

Happy New Year!

Sharon LaMothe
LaMothe Services, LLC and Infertility Answers



Happy Holidays to You and Yours from LaMothe Services, LLC

Every piece of the universe, even the tiniest little snow crystal, matters somehow. I have a place in the pattern, and so do you…Thinking of you this holiday season!-- T.A. Barron

Wishing everyone a wonderful holiday season!

Sharon LaMothe
Infertility Answers and LaMothe Services, LLC



The Best of 2010 LaMothe Book Reviews:Surrogacy and Embryo, Sperm, & Egg Donation: What Were You Thinking?: Considering IVF & Third-Party Reproduction by Theresa M. Erickson

I was very excited to receive my copy of Surrogacy and Embryo, Sperm, & Egg Donation: What Were You Thinking?: Considering IVF & Third-Party Reproduction by Theresa M. Erickson. What I expected was a book filled with guidelines and tips for those who are venturing for the first time into the unknown territory of Third Party Family Building and I was not disappointed!

Education and research is key when considering any third party reproduction route and there are several books out on the market that can assist Intended Parents in making a sound decision. But along with reading books like Surrogacy and Embryo, Sperm, & Egg Donation: What Were You Thinking? visiting website's and researching all options, it is wise to surround oneself with seasoned professionals in the field of Assisted Reproductive Technology. Theresa Erickson is one of those highly sought after reproductive attorneys that can provide sound advice and guidance just as she provides in her books.
    
Surrogacy and Embryo, Sperm, & Egg Donation: What Were You Thinking? is divided into four 'fertility options' as stated in the title but there is so much more to be discovered here. With chapters on Disclosure, Reproductive Tourism, Agency vs Independent and Online Matching, Trust and Escrow Accounts, and much more, this book is a must read for any Intended or Recipient Parent considering working with a third party to build their family.

About the Author Theresa Erickson:

Theresa M. Erickson is one of the few attorneys in the United States who practices exclusively in reproductive and family formation law. The managing partner of Erickson Law, APLC, she is also the Founder and Chair of Conceptual Options, The Surrogacy and Egg Donation Center, and lives in San Diego, California.

The Best of 2010 LaMothe Book Reviews: One More Giraffe by Kim Noble

One More Giraffe by Kim Noble is such a sweet little book...and I do mean little...perfect for small hands and short for the easily distracted toddler. Nine pages, illustrated by Stephanie Gibson, bring home the struggles of two Giraffes who want to have their own family but no matter how hard they tried they just couldn't do it alone. Then a "lady giraffe" comes along and offers them a very special gift and from there, with the help of a kind doctor and a long wait, they have their family.


This book introduces the simple concept of egg donation to the very young and opens the door to the telling their own story.

I highly recommend any new parent via egg donation to have One More Giraffe by Kim Noble on their little ones book shelf.

The Best of 2010 LaMothe Book Reviews: Delivering Hope: The Exraordinary Journey of a Surrogate Mom by Pamela MacPhee

Delivering Hope: The Exraordinary Journey of a Surrogate Mom by Pamela MacPhee is truly inspiring. Although her story starts in 2000, little has changed within the surrogacy world especially for those carrying for their relatives. As Pam is telling her own story she is also sharing the very important steps needed to start and complete such a venture. She very candidly tells of her medical and psychological screenings, legal proceedings, the medications and embryo transfer as well as her relationship with her cousin and his wife plus other family and friends. Although not every woman who has ever experienced surrogacy has the same tale to tell, any reader will get an exceptional overview of all that surrogacy entails. Being a past Gestational Carrier myself (twice), I can honestly say that each surrogacy experience has it's own challenges and rewards!

The Best of 2010 LaMothe Book Reviews:Why I'm So Special, A Book About Surrogacy by Carla Lewis-Long

If you are looking for a simplistic way to explain to your toddler about his or her birth from surrogacy,then Why I'm So Special, A Book About Surrogacy by Carla Lewis-Long is a great place to start. Approximately 40 pages long, Why I'm So Special focuses on a Mom and Dad who wanted a baby and after much trying they head for a doctor who tells them about surrogacy. Once the Mom and Dad meet their surrogate, Bonnie, the baby 'is put into Bonnie's tummy' and it starts to grow. With simple language and great illustrations, any toddler will come away with the feeling that he or she was already planned and Mom and Dad were able to make their dream come true by finding someone to help them. (In this case a Gestational Carrier)

The Best of 2010 LaMothe Book Reviews:Adopting: Sound Choices, Strong Families by Patricia Irwin Johnston

Adopting: Sound Choices, Strong Families by Patricia Irwin Johnston was published in 2008 and yet will remain timeless. This is a book that I would personally recommend for anyone who is wondering if adoption is even possible for their own unique circumstances. On a personal note, my own father was adopted in 1937 and knowing how he was found and accepted into his family and some of the struggles that my grandparents had back 'in the day' helps me relate to others considering adoption. Because Pat is living what she writes about, it makes this book easier to read and understand.


The introduction is the first place a reader learns what they are about to encounter between the covers of this thought provoking book (don't skip this!) and then you move onto the chapters....each and every one offering a tremendous amount of information but not in an overwhelming way. If you are a heterosexual couple, single or gay and are considering adoption to build your family then this is the FIRST book you should read. From Unraveling the Challenges for Family Building to a complete overview on adoption and finally how to make sound choices that fit your expectations (think financial, taxes, age of the child, open adoption, adoption services, home studies etc.) and the 'Real Thing'. These four parts bring all the important considerations to the reader in a way that is easy to understand with Pats personal thoughtful touch regarding infertility and adoption permeating each and every chapter. I also personally love the resource section at the end of each segment! So helpful! This is also a must read for professionals in the Infertility and Family Building Field.

About Patricia Irwin Johnston:

Patricia Irwin Johnston, MS, is an infertility and adoption educator and advocate with over 30 years of experience as both a volunteer (with local and national advocacy groups in the field) and as professional (publisher at Perspectives Press, Inc.) in the field of challenged family building. She is the author of several award-winning books (the most recent, Adopting: Sound Choices, Strong Families won the 2009 IPBA Benjamin Franklin Award as best self-help book) and has herself been given several awards, including being named a 2007 Angel in Adoption by the Congressional Coalition on Adoption. A member of an extended family directly touched through five generations by adoptions, Pat and her husband live in Indianapolis.

The Best of 2010 LaMothe Book Reviews: Making Babies: The Definitive Guide to Improving Your Fertility and Reproductive Health by Jason Jackson N.D.

Some books that come to me in the mail don't hold much of a surprise for me. They are just what they seem, at least if you judge the book by it's cover. Making Babies: The Definitive Guide to Improving Your Fertility and Reproductive Health by Jason Jackson N.D. certainly has a lot more to offer then I expected. To start, Jason Jackson runs a successful Natural Medicine practice from Brisbane, Australia. He has lectured and consulted extensively on numerous health topics throughout Australia and overseas. Mr Jackson specializes in reproductive health and infertility and is recognized as one of Australia's leading Naturopaths in this area and is an authority in the field of Clinical Nutrition and Herbal Medicine.

The introduction is what really captured my attention: "Over the thousands of years that humans have been able to reproduce, it has been only the last fifty years or so in the industrialized world, with its nutrient-depleted foods, genetically engineered agriculture, chemical processing, drugs, radiation and pollution, that we are now observing massive impacts on our ability to bear offspring, particularly in affluent Western societies." The last fifty years?

With chapters on Male and Female Reproductive Overviews, Preparing for Conception, Stress and Fertility, and yes, Medically Assisted Reproductive Technology (which is considered 'Plan C') I found that Jason Jackson was very adept at covering everything that one would need to know to do just that, Make Babies.

What I was really happy about were the detailed black and white photos depicting not only the human anatomy but also of fibroids, PCOS, IVF Procedure and quite a few more that add value to each chapter.

I recommend Making Babies The Definitive Guide to Improving Your Fertility and Reproductive Health by Jason Jackson N.D. as a guide to your fertility wellness as well as a great infertility resource.

The Best of 2010 LaMothe Book Reviews: If at First You Don't Conceive: A Complete Guide to Infertility Dr. William Schoolcraft, MD, HCLD

If at First You Don't Conceive: A Complete Guide to Infertility from One of the Nation's Leading Clinics by Dr. William Schoolcraft, MD, HCLD, has been available since March 2010 but I have had the pleasure of receiving and reviewing an advanced copy and highly suggest that you order yours now!

There are two hundred and sixty five pages in If at First You Don't Conceive: A Complete Guide to Infertility from One of the Nation's Leading Clinics and each and everyone of them are worth reading. If you have just found out that you have a problem with fertility, this must be the first book you read. Not only does Dr. Schoolcraft talk about being your own best advocate he writes about the most common fertility challenges, the most common solutions for those challenges and covers the emotional challenges as well. I love the fact that he includes stories from his patient's which makes you feel connected to what this book is all about, validation, education, support and solutions.

If you are not familiar with Dr. WILLIAM SCHOOLCRAFT, MD, HCLD, he is a fertility specialist and researcher and is the director of the Colorado Center for Reproductive Medicine.

The Best of 2010 LaMothe Book Reviews: Birthing a Mother The Surrogate Body and the Pregnant Self By Dr. Elly Teman

Finally! A book that explores the relationship between surrogates (gestational carriers) and their Intended Mothers. Well written and full of real life examples, Dr. Teman draws on anthropological fieldwork among Jewish Israeli women and shares with her readers what many of us in the Third Party Family Building industry want all surrogates/carriers and their Intended Mothers to know: that being a Gestational Carrier has complex and varied emotions attached, not to the fetus but more likely to the intended mother and that, for the most part, the carrier is disassociated from the baby growing in her womb. Tamar, a surrogate, says it best "And that's why I say, I didn't just give birth to a baby, I gave birth to a mother." Shlomit, an Intended Mother also states, "I always say, my mother gave birth to me the first time, she gave me life. But my surrogate gave me life a second time."

Birthing a Mother is divided into four unique parts: Dividing, Connecting, Separating, and Redefining. The entire work here is brilliant and, as a past Gestational Carrier myself, I can relate to the many stories shared within each part quite easily. A reference of "a child through the mail" caught my attention and I thought about my first Intended Mother who, because of distance, was not a 'partner' in the pregnancy the way that she might have wanted. Perhaps she thought of her twins as mail order until I flew down to her so she could take part in the last few weeks of the pregnancy.

I am sure that Intended Parents will see their thoughts and fears reflected in Birthing a Mother The Surrogate Body and the Pregnant Self and be able to use this information learned to understand their own intimate relationship with their Gestational Carrier.