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

Irene Celcer (Author), Horacio Gatto (Illustrator)

Book Description

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 surrogacy 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 Egg Donation, The Gift of Embryo Donation, and The Gift of Sperm Donation.

Editorial Reviews

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

From the Publisher

We live in a world where telling our children about their origins seems to emphasize biology or technology at the unfortunate expense of the emotional climate that surrounds a family's beginnings. It is important for children to know the love, excitement and enthusiasm that parents feel when children became part of their family. These emotions, sometimes joyous, sometimes challenging, are acknowledged in the Hope & Will Have a Baby collection of books in an appropriate way for little ears to hear and little minds to learn about.

Relating the tale of how a child came to be is sometimes fraught with awkwardness and embarrassment. This is true whether the story entails adoption, third party reproductive assistance, or even traditional conception. Many parents struggle to decide when, what or how to tell their children about their family's beginnings. Once finally parents, they may wonder if, how or when they should tell their offspring about their child's origins.

Irene Celcer, author of the Hope & Will collection, firmly believes that the well-being of children is based on healthy self-esteem, which comes from knowing who they are and how they came into this world and into their families. Although understanding the relational and biological parts of how humans are created is important, it is not the main concern of this collection. Rather it is the children's emotions of pride and love and of being deeply desired as their parents were building a family. This knowledge will help children build a strong sense of self-worth that will carry them throughout life.

This book collection can give parents a way to manage a task that may at first seem too overwhelming or stressful. It is meant to provide a way to talk about their desires to become parents and their ultimate success in doing so. It also is meant to give children an appropriate way to start understanding how they entered their family. Parents may choose to embellish, remove or add details of their own special family beginnings as they read to their children. And children will naturally do their own thing, with their own uncanny sense of innocence and delight. Ultimately, it is the family's traditions, culture, and religious beliefs that will dictate the degree of disclosure.

These books are here to help parents tell their children the loving story of their beginnings and the goodness and joyous celebration of their arrival. They accent the caring way that they were planned and how much they were wanted. The collection as a whole celebrates the diversity of ways that families can be created.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 32 pages
• Publisher: Graphite Press (March 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 097558104X
• ISBN-13: 978-0975581049
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 7.8 x 0.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #719,453 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Too much information for children, May 21, 2011

By 

lila - See all my reviews

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

This book is written from the perspective of infertile IPs and overviews the ENTIRE process. There is far too much information given about the process. I can't imagine reading this to a child...maybe a preteen. It's also a shame that the excess of text overwhelms the really lovely illustrations. This book isn't for non-religious IPs or for those who don't wish to explain their IVF & surro journey in religious terms. I don't recommend it.