What do you think?
Rate this book
Motherhood Reimagined: When Becoming a Mother Doesn't Go As Planned: A Memoir
At the age of thirty-nine, Sarah Kowalski began to realize time was running out to have a baby. After grappling with what it meant to have a baby alone, she eventually realized that she'd always wanted a baby more than anything and decided to use a sperm donor--only to find out she was infertile. Thus began a year of hope and despair in which she fought the diagnosis, refusing to accept her doctor's suggestion that she move on to donor eggs. In the months that followed, Kowalski catapulted herself into a diligent regime of herbs, Qigong, meditation, acupuncture, and more in a futile attempt to improve her egg quality. It was only after facing the dormant self-doubt and self-hatred fueled by her body's inability to conceive that she was able to surrender her previous notions of what it meant to be a mother and embrace a path to motherhood that involved both egg and sperm donation. A story of personal triumph and unconditional love, Motherhood Reimagined reveals what's possible when we are willing to put down the version of motherhood we expected and embrace the unconventional.
280 pages, Paperback
Published October 17, 2017
13 people are currently reading
248 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
November 17, 2017
As someone who struggled with infertility, this book hit home. While we didn’t have to go to the lengths Kowalski did, I was right there with her throughout. You hear about the struggles people go through to become pregnant, but it’s almost like a foreign concept. This humanized that struggle, and gave me a deep and peofound respect for anyone suffering the pain of infertility.
October 14, 2017
I found this book to be personal and a wealth of knowledge. When I am reading a memoir I want the story that the author is sharing to be personal. The reason a reader read's a memoir is to get to know the subject matter either it be...a person, persons, or a specific topic. Author, Sarah Kowalski gives me all of this in this book.
I do not actively seek stories about motherhood or infertility but it just seems to me from the stories that appear that there are more stories about motherhood than there are infertility. This kind of makes sense as people want to read a feel good story than about people's struggles about infertility. It is more personal and people have to want to be willing to share. Personally, my husband and I have been married for fourteen years and we have no children. Originally, this was not be choice; yet as the years have passed, we have come to be fine with the idea of having no children. Although, we did consider getting tested and maybe looking into adoption. I was blessed to be adopted as was my sister. I am in my mid thirties, so if I did want to have a child now, I would have to consider the challenges that the author went through as an "high risk woman". Doctor's consider women in their thirties and older to be a higher risk.
In this book, the author shares everything from the struggles to get pregnant, sperm donor, fear of being a single parent, motherhood. For anyone who is struggling with infertility and is considering having a child, you should check this book out.
I do not actively seek stories about motherhood or infertility but it just seems to me from the stories that appear that there are more stories about motherhood than there are infertility. This kind of makes sense as people want to read a feel good story than about people's struggles about infertility. It is more personal and people have to want to be willing to share. Personally, my husband and I have been married for fourteen years and we have no children. Originally, this was not be choice; yet as the years have passed, we have come to be fine with the idea of having no children. Although, we did consider getting tested and maybe looking into adoption. I was blessed to be adopted as was my sister. I am in my mid thirties, so if I did want to have a child now, I would have to consider the challenges that the author went through as an "high risk woman". Doctor's consider women in their thirties and older to be a higher risk.
In this book, the author shares everything from the struggles to get pregnant, sperm donor, fear of being a single parent, motherhood. For anyone who is struggling with infertility and is considering having a child, you should check this book out.
Read
January 27, 2018Definitely not one of my favorite books. While I usually love memoirs, this one just didn't do it for me. Pages and pages, on and on, about what Kowalski wanted. True, she's sharing her struggle, I get it, but it seemed like the child itself wasn't the important thing here, her feelings, her struggles, her problems were.
Maybe I'm biased since the topic wasn't one I was very interested in, but the book fell flat for me.
Maybe I'm biased since the topic wasn't one I was very interested in, but the book fell flat for me.
September 28, 2017
This is a modern day Odyssey of a book that will become an icon of a new genre! The courageous and heart opening journey to motherhood Kowalski describes is a rewarding read for everyone - not just women! Like the Greek classic, it describes a lengthy homecoming fraught with challenges for body and soul.
There is an expression, "If you want to make God laugh, make plans" that occurred to me again and again as I read. Right behind it, was the question of how open to unconventional ways of moving through life one must be when answering a call.
If you've ever wondered what a calling might look like, or what is possible when most doors appear shut to your dream, or how to stretch beyond everything you thought of as your personal limitations, you'll be mesmerized by this book.
The reader is swept up in the hero's journey from page one. Sometimes page turner, sometimes intimate diary, always revelatory, Kowalski turns out deep pockets of acquired wisdom as she navigates the medical and spiritual realms of becoming a mother.
Whether you read for inspiration towards your own almost whispered dreams, or to find a friend and role model for a particular objective, you'll find much to ponder and rejoice in as you navigate what it means to fully commit you mind, body, heart and soul.
In addition to a tale well told, you'll find much valuable information. The research and knowledge on offer is invaluable.
Read this book to expand your horizons, open your heart and invigorate your dreams.
There is an expression, "If you want to make God laugh, make plans" that occurred to me again and again as I read. Right behind it, was the question of how open to unconventional ways of moving through life one must be when answering a call.
If you've ever wondered what a calling might look like, or what is possible when most doors appear shut to your dream, or how to stretch beyond everything you thought of as your personal limitations, you'll be mesmerized by this book.
The reader is swept up in the hero's journey from page one. Sometimes page turner, sometimes intimate diary, always revelatory, Kowalski turns out deep pockets of acquired wisdom as she navigates the medical and spiritual realms of becoming a mother.
Whether you read for inspiration towards your own almost whispered dreams, or to find a friend and role model for a particular objective, you'll find much to ponder and rejoice in as you navigate what it means to fully commit you mind, body, heart and soul.
In addition to a tale well told, you'll find much valuable information. The research and knowledge on offer is invaluable.
Read this book to expand your horizons, open your heart and invigorate your dreams.
January 25, 2018
The only reason for even 2 stars is that the writing isn't bad. Otherwise, this would have been a put down book. Author is so self-centered, this reads like a late capitalism San Francisco meme. Pages and pages about her experience while doing various alternative healing things, and essentially no other characters are anything but how they relate to her, dots in her narcissistic landscape, without even much gratitude to all the people who help her along the way. On top of it, the actual kid is an afterthought - just window dressing to how she wants things to be, her ideal birth plan, etc. Her describing him as a young child, playing pretend that he takes care of her, is the perfect coda to this mess of a diary.
September 23, 2019
A fun and difficult journey
The author taught me so much about fertility, mindfulness, qigong, and other matters unfamiliar to me. Her travails to motherhood are both unique and typical I imagine. The emotional ups and downs as
well as her feelings of isolation are heartbreaking. If you are a mother or not you’ll relate to her struggle. The decisions are large and she often feels alone yet somehow she continues on her path. You cheer her on and hope the roller coaster stays on its tracks until she achieves what at times seems impossible.
The author taught me so much about fertility, mindfulness, qigong, and other matters unfamiliar to me. Her travails to motherhood are both unique and typical I imagine. The emotional ups and downs as
well as her feelings of isolation are heartbreaking. If you are a mother or not you’ll relate to her struggle. The decisions are large and she often feels alone yet somehow she continues on her path. You cheer her on and hope the roller coaster stays on its tracks until she achieves what at times seems impossible.
February 17, 2020
Ms. Kowalski has written an entertaining book peppered with lots of very useful information about the challenges to become pregnant for a single, unattached woman at the end of typical child-bearing years. I loved the way she describes her feelings and doubts – second guessing herself – and then arriving at a comfortable decision. I recommend this book to any woman who is having trouble conceiving.
June 12, 2018
This book is a great read. The author tells an intensely personal story but manages to educate the reader at the same time. Whether you’re a parent or not, the author’s journey feels very relevant, as her unconventional path to motherhood becomes more commonplace. Read it for its sociological value or for a glimpse into a woman’s physical and spiritual struggles and triumphs - just read it!
July 11, 2018
An insightful view of the infertility journey.
May 27, 2020
“Welcome to motherhood. Your life, your body, your identity, and your notion of control are gone! Get used to it!” Because that’s what mothers do: we step up for our children, over and over again.
Motherhood Reimagined is the fertility Eat. Pray. Love. Former lawyer turned spiritual seeker and life coach Sarah Kowalski researches relentlessly and leaves no stone unturned in pursuit of project pregnancy. Her memoir provides the perfect yin of her logical rational mind with the yang of Qigong and spiritual retreats with positive results in the end. Motherhood Reimagined explores the multifaceted ART of Assisted Reproductive Technology--when a woman decides to conceive, she essentially assumes the role of general contractor on the project of building a baby.
“I had wanted to normalize the experience of artificial insemination as much as possible by giving it some modicum of familiarity and intimacy, but now it would happen in my roommate’s bed, with a midwife I’d never met, accompanied by the soundtrack of a construction crew doing demo work in my bedroom closet. Was this the first clue that I would control next to nothing about my journey toward motherhood?”
Motherhood... is a story of identity. “Slowly, I realized that so much of who I thought myself to be was tied to my activities and interests. With those taken away from me, I had to grapple with what I wanted to do and be in this world....Until I had decided to have a child, teaching was my number one priority and pursuits...No matter what stirred up in my personal life, teaching called me to drop the crap, become present, and return to clarity...This has become my identity, and now I was grasping onto it with all my might, despite—literally—growing evidence that my primary role was about to change...In addition to relinquishing control, I could feel parenthood calling me to surrender my current identity and transform into a different woman – a mother.”
When Kowalski told a friend she’d made the decision to have a baby on her own, using a sperm donor, he said, “You should change your name to Courage.” “When I wanted something…I went after it. If that’s what courageous people do, then yes, call me Courage.” Motherhood Reimagined is Courage’s invitation to “treat pregnancy like sunbathing.” Slather on some SPF (sense, prayer, and fortitude) and dip your toes in the pool of your potential with this memoir/ manual in hand and your favorite cocktail in the other.
Motherhood Reimagined is the fertility Eat. Pray. Love. Former lawyer turned spiritual seeker and life coach Sarah Kowalski researches relentlessly and leaves no stone unturned in pursuit of project pregnancy. Her memoir provides the perfect yin of her logical rational mind with the yang of Qigong and spiritual retreats with positive results in the end. Motherhood Reimagined explores the multifaceted ART of Assisted Reproductive Technology--when a woman decides to conceive, she essentially assumes the role of general contractor on the project of building a baby.
“I had wanted to normalize the experience of artificial insemination as much as possible by giving it some modicum of familiarity and intimacy, but now it would happen in my roommate’s bed, with a midwife I’d never met, accompanied by the soundtrack of a construction crew doing demo work in my bedroom closet. Was this the first clue that I would control next to nothing about my journey toward motherhood?”
Motherhood... is a story of identity. “Slowly, I realized that so much of who I thought myself to be was tied to my activities and interests. With those taken away from me, I had to grapple with what I wanted to do and be in this world....Until I had decided to have a child, teaching was my number one priority and pursuits...No matter what stirred up in my personal life, teaching called me to drop the crap, become present, and return to clarity...This has become my identity, and now I was grasping onto it with all my might, despite—literally—growing evidence that my primary role was about to change...In addition to relinquishing control, I could feel parenthood calling me to surrender my current identity and transform into a different woman – a mother.”
When Kowalski told a friend she’d made the decision to have a baby on her own, using a sperm donor, he said, “You should change your name to Courage.” “When I wanted something…I went after it. If that’s what courageous people do, then yes, call me Courage.” Motherhood Reimagined is Courage’s invitation to “treat pregnancy like sunbathing.” Slather on some SPF (sense, prayer, and fortitude) and dip your toes in the pool of your potential with this memoir/ manual in hand and your favorite cocktail in the other.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews