Hope & Will Have a Baby: The Gift of Egg Donation [Paperback]

Irene Celcer (Author), Horacio Gatto (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 2007 | Age Level: 5 and up | Grade Level: K and up

Follow an inquisitive little boy who learns of his parents' quest to have children, and the success they ultimately achieve in creating a family. Told in a language a child can understand, read the tale of how mom and dad met, fell in love, and ultimately built a family.

This story on the gift of egg donation is part of a book collection that brings to light the many reproductive options of family building. Come and celebrate the unique gift couples can receive on their way to becoming a family.

--Full Color with Illustrations.
--Ages 3-7.

About the Hope & Will Collection
Ordinarily, most people don't think twice about how to build a family. Having biological children is presumed to be the way it is going to happen -- until it doesn't. It is at this stage that parents begin the journey to explore additional options, and this journey is not always easy.

For those parents who choose third party reproductive assistance, these books provide a delightfully new and refreshing way to tell children about their unique beginnings. Written by mental health and reproductive specialist Irene Celcer, and boldly portrayed by internationally recognized illustrator Horacio Gatto, each stand-alone volume recounts the same story from a different perspective, highlighting four distinct pathways to conception: egg donation, embryo donation, sperm donation, and surrogacy. Each book in this collection provides a great vehicle for parents to tell children how they came into this world.

Available separately, the other books in the Hope & Will collection are The Gift of Embryo Donation, The Gift of Sperm Donation, and The Gift of Surrogacy.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Kindergarten-Grade 3—All four books have the same beginning and end. Matthew asks to hear the story of his birth, "their family's special fairy tale." His parents met at "grown-up school" where they learned many interesting things, including the fact that, "A tiny embryo gets formed when a man's special baby-making seed called sperm and a woman's special baby-making egg get together." After they get married, they try to conceive, but "no baby grew in Hope's special place…." They go to see Dr. Quest, a "special doctor," who informs them that they won't be able to make a baby together but that there are other things they can do. It is here that the four books diverge, each presenting its respective topic. In each case, a loving and helpful person who loves animals, flowers, and only chocolate cones for ice cream (just like Hope and Will) is found. The rest of each book celebrates the anticipation and birth of the long-awaited baby, Matthew. These books are meant to reassure readers whose own conception involved one of these reproductive options. As such, the audience for each one is limited. Compounding this limitation is the condescending tone. Readers may well remember the name of the egg donor, Sunshine, rather than understand the significance of her role, or they may focus on the ice cream rather than the parents' emotional decision. These books are not helped by the murky cartoon art that has Will licking his lips over the medicine he's about to take.—Martha Topol, Traverse Area District Library, Traverse City, MI
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

The Hope and Will Have a Baby series is a welcomed addition to the children's books genre of non-traditional family building. What stands out when reading these stories is that the subject matter never veers from the overriding message that children born into our world through reproductive efforts are loved and truly cherished. Celcer takes five reproductive options and tells a story about a couple's struggle to have a child. Each story's theme describes Hope and Will's desire to become parents in clear terms using descriptive language that children can understand.

Using the same initial and final storylines, the five reproductive options are inserted midway through the book: surrogacy, egg donation, embryo donation, sperm donation, and adoption. Needless to say, each story has a happy ending with Hope and Will achieving their dream of having a baby and becoming parents.

The illustrations are delightful which will appeal to children of many ages. Celcer uses language that is delivered in a straightforward fashion but in a soft and gentle tone that exudes warmth and comfort. This sweet and endearing series of books are recommended additions to all home libraries in an effort to best appreciate the various ways families come to be and to welcome all children born through these means.

Copyright © 2007 American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM), Mental Health Professional Group (MHPG). All rights reserved.

--American Society for Reproductive Medicine

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 5 and up
  
• Paperback: 32 pages
• Publisher: Graphite Press (March 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0975581015
• ISBN-13: 978-0975581018
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 7.8 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,037,615 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Disappointed, July 31, 2009

By 

Sally (California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hope & Will Have a Baby: The Gift of Egg Donation (Paperback)

I had high hopes for this book, & though it's overly detailed for the purpose of introducing children younger than 5 or 6 to the facts of donor conception, I liked it until I got to the very end. There, the author identifies the much-awaited baby, twice, as "Matthew, a gift of God." There is a dearth of resources out there for parents trying to explain alternative methods of conception to their children. Too bad an otherwise engaging book, which could have served a useful purpose, had to inject religion into the story at the end. I wish this crucial detail hadn't been omitted in Amazon's description & the other reviews. For those of us parents who don't believe in gods, it's a deal-breaker.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Egg Donor Book, June 7, 2009

By 

Dawn S. Berg - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hope & Will Have a Baby: The Gift of Egg Donation (Paperback)

The only reason I rated this a 4 and not a 5 is because I think this is still a little too much "info" for a 3 year old. I will wait to read this to him in a few years.