18 May Books To Read on Your Fertility Journey
Struggling with infertility can transform easy going people into anxious messes. The combination of grief, worry, appointment tracking, stress, and then some more grief and worry can get you in quite the energetic rut.
One thing you can do to occupy and soothe your worried mind and spirit is to read or listen to books that bring positive, soothing, inspiring messages and a sense of commiserating community into your world.
5 Recommended Books to Support Your Fertility Journey
Most of these books are directly related to infertility, but we’ve also added a couple that are dedicated to helping you remain centered in yourself as you navigate the ever-changing landscape of challenging emotions that are part of the fertility treatment journey.
Sharing a favorite or two with your family or close friends is also a smart way to give them insight into where you’ve been – and what you are going through – in a way that doesn’t require you to share the intimate details of your own journey.
1. In Courage Journal (Alexandra Elle)
If you are a longtime, active journaler this may not be the pick for you. Otherwise, we love the In Courage Journal as a way to actively greet each day with confidence and positivity using daily writing practices that help you set intentions, find strength, and learn self-love.
The journal prompts and messages are written by celebrated self-care author, Alexandra Elle, and presents simple morning and evening journaling prompts, creative writing exercises, and inspiring mantras. Creating a daily and evening practice that is reasonable for you can be a powerful way to strengthen the connection to your core self.
2. IVF a Detailed Guide: Everything I Wish I Had Known Before Starting My Fertility Treatments (Bianca Smith)
They say hindsight is 20/20, which is why women going through IVF can benefit from Bianca Smith’s IVF a Detailed Guide… Knowing what she wishes she would have known can help you prepare for the journey ahead.
Of course, your team of IVF specialists should also prepare you and have plenty of information detailing their process, but preparing at the personal level and having insider’s insight is always a bonus. The book is almost completely in bullet point format, which makes it easily scannable and a good resource to have on-hand as needed.
3. The Underwear in My Shoe (Brett Russo)
Author Brett Russo was already stressed out after trying unsuccessfully to conceive at home. Her panic only increased after one failed IVF cycle after another. Unrecognizable to herself after countless rounds of unsuccessful IVF, she felt like a failure to herself, a disappointment to her husband, and the only female on Facebook without kids. Sound familiar?
In The Underwear in My Shoe, Russo shows you that only when she truly lost herself did she discover her inner strength and a sisterhood in the other women going through IVF–discoveries that changed her forever. That reality is yours to be had as well.
4. Bearing the Unbearable (Joanne Cacciatore, Ph.D.)
While society is beginning to understand more about infertility and the rigors of fertility treatments (thanks to things like NIAW’s events), grief is often left behind in the unspoken realm. That’s because contemporary western culture treats grief as virtually nonexistent or something that should be “dealt with and gotten over” within days or weeks.
Those going through fertility treatments can feel perpetually in a state of grief and Joanne Cacciatore’s Bearing the Unbearable is a perfect companion for life’s most difficult times, revealing how grief can open our hearts to connection, compassion, and the very essence of our shared humanity. While not dedicated specifically to fertility, we believe that the grief space is universal and this book honors that.
5. It Starts with the Egg (Rebecca Fett)
This recommendation is a two in one because we’re recommending both of the books, It Starts with the Egg: How the Science of Egg Quality Can Help You Get Pregnant Naturally, Prevent Miscarriage, and Improve Your Odds in IVF, as well as author Rebecca Fett’s cookbook companion, It Starts With the Egg Fertility Cookbook.
There is no doubt that egg quality is a major fertility factor, and that becomes especially important for women who are 38-years old or older. The book is based on the latest scientific research and offers a comprehensive program for improving egg quality in three months, with specific advice tailored to a variety of fertility challenges— including endometriosis, unexplained infertility, diminished ovarian reserve, PCOS, and recurrent miscarriage.
The cookbook companion addresses one of the most formative aspects of overall physical and fertility health: your pre-pregnancy diet (and has 1000 different recipes to try). Countless studies have shown a direct correlation between Mediterranean-styled diets and boosted IVF rates, not to mention reductions in infertility factor symptoms and side effects. It’s especially helpful for women who are overweight/obese, have PCOS, endometriosis or other inflammatory-related diagnoses.
Do you have books that has supported you as you’ve struggled with infertility? Share it with the Fertility Center of Dallas and our followers on Facebook.