New Essential Guide to Lesbian Conception, Pregnancy, & Birth

by Stephanie A. Brill, Preston Sacks (Foreword by)

Rare book

Genres: Nonfiction, Queer, Parenting, LGBT, Reference, Education

528 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2006

Reviews

[Simona · Rating 3 out of 5]

Certainly a little outdated at this point, but a helpful and relatively comprehensive resource. I appreciated the offerings of reflective questions and prompts to guide decision-making however there was definitely some eye-roll inducing level of "woo woo." A good first step in thinking more about queer fertility, conception, sperm choices, and family structures.

[Hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a wonderfully non-judgmental guide when you're first getting started thinking through how to build a family, and the sections on nutrition, donor selection and fertility optimization were really helpful. I've held back some stars because (1) the title is a little misleading, as nearly the entire book is devoted to conception and then you basically have to switch to a regular pregnancy book and (2) it's almost too non-judgmental, and it was sometimes hard to take the book seriously when it was legitimizing the "intuition" of many of their clients based on absolutely no scientific information.

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was recommended as the best book on the topic that someone else had read, so it seemed like a good why-not to read. There's a fair bit of woo-woo stuff in here, particularly in the middle portions, and some definite strong opinions (e.g., the idea that less medicine or interaction with medical institutions is always "better") that you have to filter for when you read, since they may not be right for you, but I assume those are both just characteristic of the genre. Obviously some of the information is also rather dated at this point since the most recent edition is from 2006, but at the least when you hit dated information you can skim it or know what to look for an update on.

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

...a divine voice to have along this journey...
by far the most comprehensive and holistic text i have found on lesbian conception and pregnancy,and the fact that it comes loaded with midwifery wisdom is an added bonus!
i am certain that i will return to stephanie brill's compassionate guidance more than once.

[Casey · Rating 4 out of 5]

We got pregnant as soon as we stopped listening to the midwives and trusting OPKs. Once we followed the advice in this book: POOF! It is the only book out there with all the information we needed.

[Steph · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m a fan of this book. For non-American readers, the American-specific bits (laws, IVF practices that only American doctors are crazy enough to do) are both irrelevant and horrifying, and some of the hippie-style obsessions with herbal teas etc were a bit eyeroll-inducing. But the rest is very useful, not only for nuts-and-bolts information on conception (no pun intended) but also discussion of issues and challenges specific to rainbow families, and posing questions or possibilities to help prospective parents navigate the psychological and relationship challenges during the TTC and pregnancy periods, and to prepare emotionally for parenthood.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is packed. It is thorough. It's totally worth reading, just for the lifestyle tips and statistics alone... I wish more of this information were in mainstream pregnancy books, because it is so empowering. For example, I haven't read anywhere but here that regular exercise lowers miscarriage rate by 40%... and then goes into detail about what "exercise" means. It is very thoughtful about all the nuances of using donor sperm... again, so nice to have the stats. Stephanie gives us the information, then we can decide how to go about things. Beautiful resource.

[Stacey · Rating 5 out of 5]

We have turned to this book time and time again. In brief, if you are to buy only one book on this subject, this is it. We refer to it as our "lesbian conception bible". It covers everything you need to know, and quite a bit of information that you didn't know you needed to know. It is comprehensive, holistic, and inclusive of all different types of people that make up our queer community. We got pregnant with relative ease and I credit much of that to the information and advice provided in this book. We also purchased several other books in this genre, this is by far the best, don't waste your money on others. The main focus of this book is the conception part, and I do wish the other areas - pregnancy and birth were more in depth. Perhaps they should have 2 separate books, or else volume one and two. One could only hope.

[Kitty · Rating 3 out of 5]

Title is misleading. First 4/5 are about conception, last 1/5 is about pregnancy and birth! This is a great book for over communicative lesbians who think too much. It's true, all the books who talk about dad get a little tiring, translating everything in your head to my family. So if you want validation for exactly how your feeling- however that is!- it's in here! It is good about pointing out that the only thing that make lesbian pregnancies different is lack of easy access to sperm. So it makes sense that the only thing covered in the last 5th is emotions. Cause that's all that's different from any other pregnancy or birth books.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is like the idiot's guide to getting pregnant. It deals mainly with planning for and actually conceiving than with pregnancy and birth. It's very informative and even has pictures in case the words are just not enough of and explanation. Answers question you might feel stupid for asking. I benefited most from the fertility chapters, they provide several ways for tracking that don't require purchasing anything.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rented from the library twice: when we were in the process of IUIs, and after I learned I was pregnant. Really specific information about the queer process of trying to conceive, and all the decisions you will face. The pregnancy and birth sections were less detailed than I hoped, but still some solid information for queer specific lifestyles. I had the opportunity to meet Stephanie's predecessor at Maia Midwifery; she will be publishing an updated version of this book in 2016.

[D · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice comprehensive guide for F/F couples. As with all reference books, you can skip around to find what is applicable to your personal situation. All readers will certainly notice something in this book that they may have otherwise overlooked in their research. With my partner's permission and long term commitment, I will submit to IVF this year. Yeah, just so very, very ready for this. 2017 will be quite an exciting year for us:)

[Eliza T. Williamson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent resource for helping women meet their bodies in a whole new way and learn @ the various options for getting pregnant and what they each entail. It is clear--has great photos and graphs and sometimes left me dizzied with knowledge (in a good way).

[Megan]

Definitely the best resource for lesbians trying to get pregnant. Really detailed, but not overwhelming. Great info about fertility options too.

[cubbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

while i generally really like how it covers so many things that could happen and feelings that can come up, reading about all of the possibilities is a little overwhelming in and of itself.

[Martha F-P · Rating 3 out of 5]

(not an announcement, y'all, just information!)

[Michelle Adcock]

Very informative and empowering....