Choice: True Stories of Birth, Contraception, Infertility, Adoption,… (2007)

Definitely learned more than I thought I would and really appreciated these true down to earth stories without any pontification. You can see my full review on my blog at: http://www.laurareviews.net/2009/06/choice-true-stories-of-birth.html ( )

Interesting, sometimes heart-wrenching short stories, fast read. Makes me happy to be a woman with choices, however hard they may be to make. ( )

Excellent book! I'm not sure what more to say (Actually, that's a lie. I have plenty more to say but I could go on for days so I'll keep it simple here.) except that I think that all of the women chosen for this anthology did a really great job at clearly articulating what it means to be pro-choice and how important it is that people are given full autonomy over their lives.

As with any book I read with this type of subject matter, I appreciated the honesty with which these women spoke. A lot of the essays were very heart-wrenching and a few of them had me tearing up. The last time I found myself in an ongoing dejected state and was move to tears while reading a book was when I read The Girls Who Went Away by Ann Fessler, also an excellent book on reproductive choice.

I was very surprised by the fact that the writing for the majority of the essays was engaging, fluid, and beautiful. There really was not one I didn't like or whose writing style I couldn't get into. I found this book very hard to put down and honestly, I'm sad it's over. I would have loved to have read more.

My favorite essays were Bearing Sorrow: A Birthmother's Reflections on Choice by Janet Mason Ellerby, Personal Belongings by Kimi Faxon Hemingway, and A Complicated Privilege by Elizabeth Larsen. ( )