Customer Reviews

The Essential Guide to Lesbian Conception, Pregnancy, and Birth

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

This was the best resource out there for me and my partner. It was an excellent reference book, with the most useful information being about the process of conceiving, tracking your cycles, and issues like how to time insemination if you're using frozen sperm vs. fresh sperm, etc.

Although there's info out there on artificial insemination, pregancy using sperm from a male partner, etc. this book puts all the information female couples need into one resource. Other books on these topics are for heterosexual couples and either don't address the decisions or don't address the various medical implications of those decisions for lesbian couples.

And, overall, it was just nice to have a book that was written for me and my honey. There was a place for her and a place for us written into those pages that meant we didn't have to translate all of the time into our own needs and experience.

(BTW- I didn't read anything that seemed negative in the book, so I was surprised to see that in other reviews. It's more that the authors take the approach of describing how to be healthily involved in getting the info you need to give birth to a healthy little one.)

Hope this is helpful. Good luck to you!

The Essential Guide To Lesbian Conception, Pregnancy, And Birth is jointly written by the co-founders of Maia Midwifery and Preconception Services, Stephanie Brill (a lesbian mother of three) and Kim Toevs (member of the California Association of Midwives, and the Midwives' Alliance of North America). Designed specifically for the non-specialist general reader, the authors have effectively collaborated to present information on how to plan and create an ideal family; decide between the many sperm-donor options; choose a co-parenting situation; legally protect family and custody rights; create a healthy, fertile lifestyle through nutrition, exercise, and herbal remedies; select a method of insemination; track fertility cycles and recognize fertility signals; diagnose and treat infertility; and handle both the physical and emotional challenges of pregnancy and birth. The comprehensive, "reader friendly" text of The Essential Guide To Lesbian Conception, Pregnancy, And Birth is wonderfully enhanced with easy-to-understand charts and illustrations, checklists, up-to-date fertility information; and personal exercises especially appropriate for lesbian, bisexual, and single mothers. Unique and very highly recommended.

I am so grateful that Stephanie Brill and Kim Toevs wrote this book. It is an excellent book written directly to lesbian, bisexual, transgender and single people who want to have children. It is an excellent resource and a lovely read!
It covers foods, herbs, sexuality, fertility, self-empowerment, mental health etc.
I live in a very rural area, and am unable to locate local support. This book is like receiving that support in the mail. Most books focus on donor insemination from a heterosexual infertile perpective. I appreciate being spoken to as a lesbian directly. This book is a bold step towards the liberation of life and true family! If you are even thinking about conceiving through some form of alternate insemenation, this book will cover all grounds! Congratulations to the authors for their hard work, tenacity, humor and love that has been invested into this book!

This book is very informative, though not boring or difficult to read. It covers many topics of the whole lesbian conception process, ranging from how to begin the whole "baby making process" to the actual birth. It also gives many resources for sperm banks, products, and even examples of legal documents necessary for parenting. The pictures (geared of course towards lesbians, partners, and children) add some coziness to a topic that can be very overwhelming. It's nice to see an all around great book that encompasses every aspect of lesbians choosing, planning, and becoming parents.

The current reading list for lesbian parents and [potential] parents is short and light on substance. I applaud the authors of _The Essential Guide to Lesbian Conception, Pregnancy, and Birth_ for boldly stepping into these relatively unchartered waters. Unfortunately, the end result- a 489 page tome- lacks the substance to help real women make real decisions about their baby-making plans.

The tone is warmly accepting of all lifestyles, just as one would expect from a modern midwife team. However, this "anything goes, do what's right for you" acceptance seems to prevent the authors from giving meaningful advice about difficult decisions. There's a decidedly and unsurprising anti-Western medicine bent, but the authors fail to substantiate their distrustfulness. For example, the couple of pages devoted to clomiphene (Clomid) give vague, almost paranoid warnings, without providing real information about observed benefits and risks of the drug.

The authors also fail to cite any research that might buoy their opinions. They carelessly use loaded phrases like "often," "many women," "usually," or "seldom." In this respect the authors sound to the careful reader like religious proselytizers or used car salespeople. For example, the authors insist that most women inseminate too early, which is very bad news for women who have familiarized themselves with the available literature on the matter. The evidence the authors provide seems to be based solely on their collective hunch.

Women who rely on this book to sort through the miasma of conception issues may feel unprepared to make the important decisions they will face.

I love this book! I felt like it was speaking to me, and it validated my own experience since I have started researching artificial insemination. The book gave me good information about my diet, such as giving up caffeine and sugar. I also got good information about how to keep track of my fertility. We are using a known donor, so it helped to have the information about relationships with known donors and ways to manage them. There was information there that I had not seen anywhere else that validated my own experience.

I tend to distrust western medicine especially when it comes to women's bodies. The idea of needing tons of medical interventions in labor seems ridiculous (of course I have not been in labor-so this is only my own observation). I do think that women have been having babies for millions of years-and from what I have researched as long as you are healthy and fit, labor should not need to be lying on your back with labor inducing drugs and an epistiotimy (sp???). So I appreciated the information about home births, water births, and pain management.

I did not give this book five stars because even for me-the natural hippie-there was some stuff that was a little too out there. When they discuss charting they discourage ovulation kits, and taking your temperature-but they encourage charting the phase of the moon! They also have a slight paranoid streak by encouraging you to not use household cleaners, eat all organic food, and only drink water that has been filtered. A little impractical for my lifestyle. But it's informative and helpful just the same.

thanks for the easy to read material in this book. it is non-biased and very informative, giving excellent information on western and alternative methods - something generally not given by fertility doctors.

clear that the book is written by midwives who know what they are talking about.

We bought this book to provide us with guidance during conception. I found it to be way too negative. I highly preferred Rachel Pepper's book The Ultimate Guide to Pregnancy for Lesbians.

Book definitely has an opinion, even so it offered a nice perspective. It felt slightly out of step with today's reality, but maybe just out of step with mine. However, it does offer an alternative view to things that I think is very helpful.

this is information that is greatly needed. i appreciated all the charts and advice that i'd never heard before. this book has become my handbook in a very short time.

the book is so comprehensive and a true gift from the authors - it absolutely amazes me.