Choice: True Stories of Birth, Contraception, Infertility, Adoption, Single Parenthood, and Abortion (Paperback)

by Karen E. Bender and Nina de Gramont (Author), Karen E. Bender (Editor), Nina De Gramont (Editor)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
This collection, compiled by two savvy fiction writers fed up with the bumper-sticker mentality of most pro-life and pro-choice arguments, illuminates the volume of options, obstacles and ambivalence that reproduction brings through personal, often painful stories of real women. Examining almost every angle of the pregnancy experience are two dozen writers, editors and educators, including novelist Jacquelyn Mitchard (The Deep End of the Ocean), writer's writer Francine Prose (Reading like a Writer) and editor Elizabeth Larsen (one of the creators of Sassy magazine). Collectively celebrating the courage of the choice-whatever that choice may be-Bender and de Gramont offer these stories as a bulwark against the criminalization of women's reproductive options (the book was conceived amidst South Dakota's proposed abortion ban); among these tales of women choosing to terminate pregnancies, to have children with men unfit to raise them, to fight against their own bodies to become pregnant, to keep an at risk-pregnancy both doctors and ministers advise against, that purpose is powerfully realized. Each tale is unique, and politically charged buzz terms (RU-486, Roe V. Wade, etc.) gain new impact nestling alongside these writers' honest quests for basic human needs: love, nurturing, and above all, possibility.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Description
CHOICE explores the one of the most polarizing political issues of our time reproductive choice.

CHOICE attempts to raise the discourse on reproductive choice, which often devolves to clichés and name-calling, by posing the question--what is it like to make any sort of reproductive choice? What is it truly like to use birth control, the morning after pill, use a sperm bank, have an abortion, adopt a child, give a child up for adoption, bring a pregnancy to term?

In these 22 stunningly honest essays, writers describe their experiences making some of these decisions, as well as many others. Established writers such as Francine Prose, Jaquelyn Mitchard, Pam Houston, Carolyn Ferrell, Ann Hood, Deborah Macdowell, and Sarah Messer contribute essays, along with emerging writers such as Kimi Faxon Hemingway, Stephanie Anderson, and Ashley Talley.

The essays in CHOICE explore the complexities inherent in every reproductive decision, whether it is to choose to have a child or terminate a pregnancy; the guiding philosophy of the book is that this issue is too complex and individual to be legislated, and the writers honesty about their experiences will humanize this issue, no matter what the reader s stand on it.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 349 pages
• Publisher: MacAdam/Cage (October 20, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1596920629
• ISBN-13: 978-1596920620
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 6.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #418,062 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Incredible, powerful book, December 20, 2007

By	Karen Abraham (Hoboken, NJ United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is absolutely one of the most emotionally powerful, though-provoking, conviction-challenging books I have read in a number of years. I only wish I could give it six stars.

It is NOT, as some might think, all about the choice to have an abortion. It is about all the emotional, mental, and moral complexities of ANY pregnancy, and the desires, decisions, fears, and longings that go along with a pregnancy. There are stories of women who gave their children up for adoption, and have suffered the pain of wishing they could have kept their children for the rest of their lives. There are women who recount the histories of women in their family who did not have the choices that they themselves now have when faced with an abusive relationship, a pregnancy where the resulting child would be unlikely to survive, having absolutely no money to be able to take care of a child conceived despite carefully using birth control. There are women who had to choose between dying themselves and attempting to carry a much-wanted pregnancy to term. There are women who chose to become single mothers despite pressure to have an abortion or give up the baby for adoption. There are women who knew their fetus might be abnormal, but chose to have the baby, come what may. There are stories of women who had abortions, both legal and illegal, who had severe medical consequences as a result. There are women who had an abortion for an early pregnancy when they could not carry it to term, and are thankful for that choice because it gave them a chance at a better, happier life - and more children that they could care for and support - later in life. Women who miscarried, and have dealt with the pain of this loss. Women who adopted from another country, acutely aware of the terrible circumstances that must have led to the bio mother of their child having to give up her baby. Women who miscarried much-wanted children. Women who knew deep down that they were not meant to be mothers, and decided to not have children.

It is about choices - ALL the choices - associated with so many different pregnancy situations.

None of these situations are without feelings, without an awareness of other options or possibilities. Many of the women in these essays made decisions that they knew they had to make, but were gut-wrenching in the extreme. Many women in these essays support having ALL options available for pregnancies, even if they themselves strongly disagree with some of the options. In thinking forward to having my own family in the future and having never been pregnant (yet) myself, I have the utmost respect for most of the women in these essays in making these difficult choices (regardless of what choice they made) and strongly facing up to the consequences. Do not look for this book to be an unabashed endorsement of abortion - it is NOT that at all. That would be too simplistic to represent the reality of most women's situations when faced with pregnancy.

I believe that this book should not only be required reading for teen and young adult girls/women, but also for the boys/men too. I would also strongly suggest it for women's studies classes looking at reproduction.

I have already recommended it to several friends - one who appears to be infertile and is working on adopting from another country; another who is living with her boyfriend and will probably marry him, but may or may not be ready to be a mother now should she get accidentally pregnant; to a woman who got easily pregnant with her first two children, and conceived through a fairly foolproof form of birth control for her third.

Choices.

Even if you assume you will disagree with many of the decisions made here, pick up the book anyway. You may be surprised at the empathy you have for the women in these essays - and that you may even have something in common with them.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Should be required reading, November 28, 2007

By	Mary S. Waters "maryqat" (Arcata, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I feel this book should be required reading for teen girls as part of a comprehensive sex education curriculum. The stories are individuals' accounts of reproductive choices made. I like that it is not judgmental or weighted heavily to one side or the other. The topic of abortion is so loaded, with both sides apparently so entrenched, that it is humbling to read about the actual effects from people's experience, and to realize that the women involved are people who have struggled with their choices. The book is not limited to abortion but touches on various areas of reproductive choice. While I feel men could learn a lot from the narratives, ultimately it is us as women who face the choices---birth control, unexpected pregnancy, infertility.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing, March 16, 2008

By	Rebecca Parker "foxglove" - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book was incredibly honest, heartfelt, and moving. The diversity of stories and voices kept me interested and the emotional power of these stories truly affected me. I found myself crying in the middle of class as I read this book (whilst pretending to take notes and pay attention in class). I wholeheartedly recommend this book.