Having been through IVF, the story of Carolyn and Sean Savage was intriguing.
A brief synopsis:
After years of infertility, the Savage's decided to pursue IVF. A terrible mistake was made by their fertility clinic and another couple's frozen embryos were transferred into Carolyn. The procedure was successful. She was told of the pregnancy and the mistake at the same time by her husband.
The book is written by both Carolyn and Sean, volleying between the two perspectives. I'll be honest, at first this annoyed me, because I thought the flow would be interrupted. The further into the book I got (by Chapter 2) the better I liked it. It gave us a look into Sean's perspective, which as we all know in the online infertility community is known as the "rare male perspective."
The tone of the book was very conversational, almost as if you were sitting across from the Savage's over coffee. I cried at the end. And I don't cry over books (fact or fiction). But the anguish that comes through their words and pictures, is tangible. As a pregnant woman, I cannot even begin to fathom how they felt, but they eloquently wrote about the delivery and day after.
The grace in which they handled the situation they were thrown into was incredible. I appreciated the fact that they acknowledged how their faith was a cornerstone of strength and guidance for them in the process.
I did find that the genetic parents of the baby were portrayed in a rather harsh light. I can't say that I would have felt differently than the Savage's or handled it any better than the Morell's. I can only believe that the Savage's wrote with complete honesty and openness.
Scary to believe that this can happen, I don't think I would have wanted to read this prior to my procedure, because there is already so much to be anxious about. One in three million - not a stat of which I want to be on the wrong side.
Thanks to Trish at TLC for inviting me to review this book.
You can learn more about Carolyn and Sean Savage here.
You can see other reviews here.
You can purchase your own copy here
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Excellent review! May I borrow your copy? I can't even imagine the shock when they learned the news - either one of the couples.
ReplyDeleteYour talents do abound, my dear!
Having been through IVF several times myself, I'm definitely glad I didn't know about this book before MY procedures. *shudder*
ReplyDeleteI'm glad that you found the book to be a good read. Thanks for being on the tour!
There are some books, some movies, some stories that I just avoid all together. There is so much pain in this world and sometimes I just can't bear to take it in. Having said that, Awesome book review girl!
ReplyDeleteFrom this post and your last it sounds like you are staying busy and enjoying every minute of this pregnancy. Have you enrolled in the childbirth classes? Made any more inroads on the nursery prep?
I think about you all the time!
I saw this story featured on 20/20 or Dateline...Unfortunately it was aired shortly before we underwent our IVF and needless to say it was something that I thought about...I even brought it to the attention of my fertility clinic while I was waiting to have my ER. The nurses said they saw the story, but assured me that it would NEVER happen. Something to think about and I could never imagine what I would do.
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