Product Description

Childlessness is a growing issue in the UK and throughout the developed world. Current estimates suggest that 20-25 per cent of women now of childbearing age will not, for a variety of reasons, ever have a child. This sensitive and intelligent book offers support, shared experience and practical strategies to those for whom childlessness is not a positive choice but a circumstance they have to learn to live with. Even now, many women find it very difficult to discuss this emotive topic with family and friends so this ground-breaking and accessible book will be profoundly and widely welcomed.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #86188 in Books
• Published on: 2005-06-03
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 256 pages

Hilary Mantel
'Thoughts and feelings are described here which I’ve never seen expressed, in print or out loud...'

Anthea Turner, Broadcaster and patron of Infertility Network UK
Keep this book near and if you ever feel lonely open it at any page and feel better.

Anthea Turner
We're all in this book, and reading it reminds you you're not alone.

Customer Reviews

A book we've been waiting a long time for
As a childless woman I often feel very alone - I don't personally know anyone else who has tried, and failed, to have children, or who has any idea at all what it feels like. This book is like discovering you have a close friend you never knew you had, or more accurately a whole sisterhood of friends and fellow travellers. It reaches out and touches you, helps and informs you about how others at different stages of the process are dealing with the same feelings / experiences. Wanting to be a mother and failing to be one, then trying to work out what you can be instead and how to find your roots and make a contribution to the world ... these things can ruin your life. Or not, if you're strong and have good support. This book gives huge support, and is a joy to read. The authors are funny and truthful and the stories full of variety, sorrow, hope and ultimately inspiration - even if you aren't childless, just out of curiosity, I'd urge anyone who is interested in identity and women's lives to read it. And that means men, too! (Although it's mostly a female narrative, men are just as involved in these issues and I'm sure there are some of you out there who would like to know more.... ) Highly recommended.

Explores the emotional rollercoaster with supportive honesty
The coauthors, rachel and louise, take one on a journey through the expectations associated with motherhood and the dashed hopes and resulting sadness and despair when that dream is lost using their own and the experiences of the many women they interviewed. Never patronising, dismissive or minimising the pain, they explore the many emotions roused by the simple question 'do you have children?' and examine responses and strategies for coping. Their openeness and honesty and willingness to be vulnerable shine through the pages. They do not offer quick fix solutions but explore the many and varied ways of moving on used by women whose dreams have not been fulfilled. This book is a must read for those who have felt or feel alone in their childlessness and for their friends and family who know not what to say or how to offer comfort.

comforting......but not enough
Having just recieved the diagnosis of POF aged 29, and being surrounded by smug and tactless mummys' with babies, I was devastated and desperate to read this book, in the hope it could offer some sort of comfort, and say the things I wished my family and friends could have said to me. It helped in some ways. I did feel less alone and some sections are beautifully empathetic, but throughout the book it does reference couples who already had biological children who were then unable to produce another. Que the violins! This really put me off and irritated me. Such couples are not truly childless are they, and I couldnt help but feel annoyed that they were included so much.