Kate Brian has two children born through IVF and since becoming a mother has written on fertility issues. Her new book 'The Complete Guide To IVF', is just as it says - a complete guide. If you are new to IVF this could become your bible!
Kate guides the reader through the complexities and bewilderment of IVF treatment, explaining what it is and exploring why you may be choosing IVF as an option. She then takes us through the whole procedure from choosing the right clinic for you to your first appointment, what happens behind the scenes in the lab and at embryo transfer. She describes the emotional roller-coaster that IVF often becomes and using fertility counselling to support yourselves through treatment. There is a chapter on using donor sperm and eggs and the male perspective, as she recognises that men often feel isolated during fertility treatment.
Kate and I would disagree on a couple of points in the book - she seems ambivalent about the benefits acupuncture may offer to support people through IVF, and she also questions lifestyle advice that is fairly common place now in some clinics and with fertility advisers such as Zita West e.g. resting after embryo transfer and not flying during the two week wait. However, she provides the reader with an abundance of information which she has gained through her own experience and by talking to and watching IVF professionals at work.
At present, I know of no other resource which provides such a valuable introductory insight into the IVF procedure and for that reason, I would recommend this to anyone who is contemplating their first IVF cycle.