Louise Sloan

Brand new, from my buddy Louise.

Sloan has done something difficult--she's written a breezy book about artificial insemination and single parenthood. Part self-help, part popular sociology, this book covers both the general how-to as well as the why; the latter (as well as the angst, the celebration, the what-will-my-mother-think?) is conveyed through Sloan's first-person account of her own attempts at single pregnancy and those of a number of other women.

The book is enjoyable even for those readers not interested in engaging in this process. How many of us know that much about how semen is delivered to your doorstep, for example? This is fun to discuss at parties. The target reader receives information that she is probably not getting from a more factual "how to" book, particularly about other women's decision making and experiences along the way. Sloan nicely balances "what is it?" with "what does it feel like?" Wisely, she does not make general pronouncements, but rather invites women with a range of experiences to say what it was for each of them.
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This book is part memoir, part "how-to", with the bits in between filled in with the stories of other single mothers by choice (SMCs) that the author talked to.

I'm really glad that the author included all of the stories and quotes from interviewing other SMCs, since I think it really helped give the book a more well-rounded feeling. The "how-to" bits are really good places to start thinking, but probably not enough detail for someone to actually use for decision-making and taking steps -- that said, I have a feeling that any book that tried to do this would be out-of-date before it reached the shelves, there's just too much that is changing too quickly.

Totally a worthwhile book to read, even if this isn't a choice on your table.… (more)