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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