Just the Two of Us?
Help and Strength in the Struggle to Conceive
by Eleanor Margesson & Sue McGowan
Paperback
Price: £7.99
Publisher:IVP(Inter Varsity Press)
Published:16 July 2010
ISBN:978-1-844-74475-6
GoodBookStall Review:
“It may vary in intensity with different women and men, but as one of my friends put it, infertility is a chronic grief: the long unknown.” p160
In this book we meet a number of people who have and are still struggling with infertility. Some have tried a number of treatments while others have resigned themselves (not joylessly) to life without children of their own.
As someone who has been diagnosed with ‘unexplained infertility’ I found this book immensely helpful. While I do not relate to every story, I have over the years experienced heartache at the start of another cycle, disappointment when the third pregnancy test is still negative but have over the last few years come to accept my lot in life. We may still go for treatment or consider adoption but I am content to follow where God leads. Nonetheless, I was challenged to think about what the future will look like, keeping my marriage strong and how I saw myself without a family. I know that in the future there will be more struggles to come and that is exactly why I think that anyone who has known someone or is suffering with infertility should own a copy of this book.
Broken into four sections Eleanor and Sue look at where God is in all this pain, coping with the stress of childlessness. They briefly discuss how the professionals can help before challenging you to think about the future. All these sections have personal experiences from a number of aliases.
Each section ends with a small ‘reflection’ which gives you something to read, something to do, a section for friends and pastors and further reading.
I would highly recommend this not only for those who are diagnosed with infertility but also for anyone who knows someone in this struggle as well as councillors and pastors.
Reviewer: Charmaine Hill (17/01/11)
“It may vary in intensity with different women and men, but as one of my friends put it, infertility is a chronic grief: the long unknown.” p160
As someone who has been diagnosed with ‘unexplained infertility’ I found this book immensely helpful. While I do not relate to every story, I have over the years experienced heartache at the start of another cycle, disappointment when the third pregnancy test is still negative but have over the last few years come to accept my lot in life. We may still go for treatment or consider adoption but I am content to follow where God leads. Nonetheless, I was challenged to think about what the future will look like, keeping my marriage strong and how I saw myself without a family. I know that in the future there will be more struggles to come and that is exactly why I think that anyone who has known someone or is suffering with infertility should own a copy of this book.
Broken into four sections Eleanor and Sue look at where God is in all this pain, coping with the stress of childlessness. They briefly discuss how the professionals can help before challenging you to think about the future. All these sections have personal experiences from a number of aliases.
Each section ends with a small ‘reflection’ which gives you something to read, something to do, a section for friends and pastors and further reading.
I would highly recommend this not only for those who are diagnosed with infertility but also for anyone who knows someone in this struggle as well as councillors and pastors.
Reviewer: Charmaine Hill (17/01/11)
