Conceivability, Elizabeth Katkin
Conceivability, Elizabeth Katkin
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Conceivability
What I Learned Exploring the Frontiers of Fertility

Author: Elizabeth Katkin

Narrator: Coleen Marlo

Unabridged: 8 hr 46 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 12/18/2018


Synopsis

Part memoir, part guide, this personal and deeply informative account of one woman's gripping journey through the global fertility industry in search of the solution to her own "unexplained infertility" exposes eye-opening information about the medical, financial, legal, scientific, emotional and ethical issues at stake.

Although conception may seem like a simple biological process, this is often hardly the case. While many would like to have children, the road toward conceiving and maintaining a pregnancy can be unexpectedly rocky and winding.

Lawyer Elizabeth Katkin never imagined her quest for children would ultimately involve seven miscarriages, eight fresh IVF cycles, two frozen IVF attempts, five natural pregnancies, four IVF pregnancies, ten doctors, six countries, two potential surrogates, nine years, and roughly $200,000. Despite her three Ivy League degrees and wealth of resources, Katkin found she was woefully undereducated when it came to understanding and confronting her own difficulties having children. Shattered by her inability to get and stay pregnant, Katkin surprised even herself by her determination to keep trying. After being told by four doctors she should give up, but without an explanation as to what exactly was going wrong with her body, Katkin decided to look for answers herself. The global investigation that followed revealed that approaches to the fertility process taken in many foreign countries are vastly different than those in the U.S. and U.K.

In Conceivability, Elizabeth Katkin, now a mother of two, shares her fertility journey. Part memoir, part practical guide—with an afterword by founder of New York Fertility Services Dr. Joel Batzofin—Conceivability sheds light on the often murky and baffling world of conception science, presenting a shocking exposé into the practical and emotional journey toward creating a happy family. Armed with a wealth of knowledge from her years-long fertility struggle, as well as stories from other women and couples, Katkin bravely offers a look inside one of the most difficult, painful, rewarding, and loving journeys a woman can take.

About Elizabeth Katkin

Elizabeth Katkin, a lawyer and mother of two, is a former partner at a large international law firm. A graduate of Yale University and Columbia's Law School and School of International and Public Affairs, she lives with her husband, Richard, and their children in Denver, Colorado. Conceivability is her first book.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Jaime on May 19, 2018

This stared off good, and as a maternal-child health person, I was happy to see the research. But then there were parts where I felt she relied too heavily on “anecdata,” and mixing up things like eggs and follicles (perhaps this will be caught by an editor before the final printing, as I had an ARC......more

Goodreads review by Sunshine on November 17, 2020

"Conceivability: What I Learned Exploring the Frontiers of Fertility" by Elizabeth Katkin I write this book review laying in my bed at 4pm, having just arrived home from a day procedure with general anaesthesia. My fertility specialist Dr. Kee One in the Gold Coast, Australia has just performed a lapa......more

Goodreads review by Elena on January 03, 2023

This is a worthwhile read if you have any interest in infertility! If you plan to have kids it's certainly a nerve-wracking read because the book covers a multitude of things that can go wrong on the path to conception, pregnancy, and birth. The author has MULTIPLE issues that cause infertility so a......more

Goodreads review by Katie on September 21, 2020

Part memoir, part reference, Elizabeth Katkin’s book explores many areas of infertility that are often set aside when you are in the midst of fertility treatments, especially given the toll it takes on your emotional and mental health. She tackles complex policy and citizenship questions; ethical di......more

Goodreads review by Kaitie on March 22, 2019

I was recently diagnosed with PCOS, which the author of this book very boldly states she has, and for the first time I had to face the fact that biological children may be something I will never be able to have, or will need to undergo rigorous medical trials in order to have them at all. Am I ready......more