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

Debby Peoples (Author), D. Peoples (Author), Harriette Rovner Ferguson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 15, 1998

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.

Editorial Reviews

Review

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. -- Aaron Britvan, counselor at law, co-chairperson of the adoption committee of the New York State Bar Association

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

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

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. -- Dr. Ellen Miller, physician specializing in infertility

[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. -- Science and Technology --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 297 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company; 1 edition (February 15, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393041042
• ISBN-13: 978-0393041040
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,331,136 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I highly recommend this book. I call it my "coping bible"., August 24, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: What to Expect When You're Experiencing Infertility: How to Cope with the Emotional Crisis and Survive (Hardcover)

I'm very impressed with this book. It's brand new at the book stores and the best I've read on coping. Reading it, you can't help but feel that the authors actually "get it." They understand what it feels like to ride the infertility emotional roller coaster.

The book covers keeping your identity, primary and secondary infertility, communicating with your spouse, friends and family, balancing a job and baby making, coping with grief and loss, decision making, when to know to move on, and even child free living. It also covers waiting for your baby whether it's through adoption or pregnancy.

I really feel this is GREAT. It's a must have for everyone. I've only had this book a few weeks and it has already helped me to cope with my decision to move on to a life after infertility and remain childfree. Those who know me, know what a struggle this has been for me.

I highly recommend this book. I call it my "coping bible".

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars the best book around on the emotional effects of infertility, September 22, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: What to Expect When You're Experiencing Infertility: How to Cope with the Emotional Crisis and Survive (Hardcover)

Quite simply, this book should become the Bible of infertility sufferers. It fills a glaring gap in the bookshelves by addressing the social and emotional costs of infertility, rather than the technical and medical details that go out of date so quickly. I had fertility problems so rare most technical manuals were useless to me, but, just like so many others, I struggled with unsympathetic employers, all-too-fertile friends and relatives, and tensions with my husband. This is the only book I know of specifically written to address those issues and it does, in detail, the most important thing any infertility book needs to do -- acknowledge that this isn't just a physical problem. Read it and know you're not alone.

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The more I read this book, the more I love it., March 11, 2000

By 

Francesca (http://www.childofmydreams.com) - See all my reviews

This review is from: What to Expect When You're Experiencing Infertility: How to Cope with the Emotional Crisis and Survive (Hardcover)

The more I read this book, the more I love it. I've read it and reread it many times over the past year for my own personal support. I frequently refer to it as my "Coping Bible." You can't help but feel that the authors actually "get it." They are not only professionals in the field, but they really do understand what it is like to ride the infertilty "emotional roller coaster." The book covers it all, from keeping your identity, primary and secondary infertility, communicating with your spouse, friends and family, balancing a job and baby making, coping with grief and loss, decision making and knowing when to move on. It also features frequently over-looked issues such as waiting for your baby (pregnancy and adoptive) and living life childfree.