Ours is an extraordinary time for anyone straight, gay, single, or coupled who’s ever wanted a baby of his or her own. Many aspiring parents now depend on some form of assisted reproductive technology (ART) to fulfill their dreams of starting a family. But as Dr. Diane Ehrensaft points out, parents who conceive with the help of a donor or surrogate often struggle with unforeseen questions. How can you help the child understand where he or she fits into the family and into the world? Exactly who is the mommy, and who is the daddy? How will grandparents and other family members react? What will the donor or surrogate have to say about it? Mommies, Daddies, Donors, Surrogates, Dr. Ehrensaft addresses these topics and guides readers through a host of other concerns that may arise before, during, and after assisted conception. Provocative, compassionate, and immediately practical, Dr. Ehrensaft's far-ranging inquiry raises issues no one affected by ART should ignore. --- from the publisher Contents Preface 1. Beware Gifts Bearing Children 2. The Power to Create, the Fear of Creation 3. Procreation with the Proper Stranger 4. You're Mine . . . or Are You? 5. What's Love Got to Do with It? 6. Should I Tell? 7. When to Tell 8. The Birds and the Bees and the Nice Man or Woman 9. How Do the Children Fare? 10. When Clear Thinking Trumps Anxiety Resources Reviews "This is the book for anyone who used or is thinking of using any kind of assisted reproduction to help create a family. So many of us are afraid to talk openly about--or just don't know how to talk about--the ways our families were created. This book will help you deal with your own anxieties and confusions and then be able to talk about them in a more comfortable way....I am overjoyed that a book like this is finally available."-Jane Mattes, CSW, psychotherapist and founder of Single Mothers by Choice "Dr. Ehrensaft tackles your medical questions, your psychological questions, and your parenting questions, all in one readable, authoritative volume."-Susan H. McDaniel, PhD, Department of Family Medicine, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry About the Author Diane Ehrensaft, PhD, a noted developmental and clinical psychologist in the San Francisco Bay area, Oakland, California, specializes in psychotherapy and consultation with parents and children in families formed with the help of assisted reproductive technology. A faculty member of the Wright Institute, Berkeley, California, since 1981 and a member of the mental health professional group of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, she publishes and lectures internationally on issues of raising children and strengthening families. She has watched her two children and now one grandchild grow up in this fertile new world. |