Pie's Book Nook

I feel like since I've started the IF roller coaster, I've been reading a lot more. Maybe it is all the time spent in waiting rooms, maybe it's the need for distraction. But, either way, it is a good thing.

I recently finished a book I wanted to recommend to you IF peeps. It's not an IF book per se, but it is of interest (I think) to anyone going through any kind of assisted reproduction.

But let's start at the beginning of my journey with this book's topic. I first read this article in the NYT about Dr. Howard Jones (and yes, as a child of the 80's I start singing this song every time I read his name, but not the same guy). All the things this man has seen, and seen change in his lifetime and career. Amazing.

Then as I was browsing Amazon for something new for my Kindle (and seriously, if you don't have one, get one, it will change your life. Like Tivo did.) I came across a book by Rebecca Skloot called "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks". It sounded interesting, and I got the free sample on the Kindle (yes, you can read the first chapter or two for free before you decide if you want to buy. Thanks Kindle!).

It sucked me in right away, and I immediately downloaded the whole book (while at lunch somewhere - another reason Kindle rocks). And it begins talking about Dr. Jones! Kismet!

This woman, Henrietta Lacks, is the reason we have cell culture today. The reason we can culture eggs, make embryos in vitro, and even check on sperm using sperm analysis. Never mind her contributions to a polio cure, cancer research breakthroughs and many other important advances of modern medicine in the last 50+ years. I felt while reading this book it was so fascinating to understand where this technology comes from. Not from a lab, but starting with a person. It made the whole assisted reproduction field more personal.

This book is mostly about Mrs. Lacks, a poor black woman in the 1950s, and how her cervical cancer cells changed the face of medicine. But it is also about the disparity in health care between the haves and the have-nots, it is about informed consent, and it is about how much control one truly has over their own body and body parts. And it is about how a child deals with the loss of her mother to cancer at a young age.

While not an IF book overtly, I think this is a must-read for anyone going through assisted reproduction. If only to know what sacrifices, mostly unknowingly, were made by a woman and her family to allow me and you to have this chance at a family.

If you've read this book, I've love to hear your thoughts on it.