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Stronger Than Infertility: The Essential Guide to Navigating Every Step of Your Journey
This indispensable, comprehensive, and accessible reference book to infertility provides people with the tools they need to be their own best advocates as they navigate fertility treatments and highs and lows of their infertility journey. Author Heather Huhman guides readers through every stage of the process—from knowing when to seek medical advice to parenting after infertility, and everything in between. There's the medical nitty getting a diagnosis (or not); selecting a fertility clinic that's right for you; understanding IUI and IVF and genetic testing; a comprehensive list of medications and their side effects, and much more. There are emotional high and staying hopeful while managing grief and depression, maintaining and strengthening your relationship, and navigating religious and ethical concerns. And then there is the practical and often complicated questions around affording treatments, dealing with your workplace (including the military), and everything you need to know about insurance and fertility treatments.
Stronger Than Infertility breaks down complicated clinical information and expert medical advice from top specialists in the field. The book includes first-person stories and hard-won advice from women who have been down this long and often painful road (Huhman included) and offers a clear-eyed look at the emotional and psychological landmines that come with the journey. The result is a book that inspires as much as it educates and is a much-needed source of support and inspiration for readers hungry for understanding and hope.
Stronger Than Infertility breaks down complicated clinical information and expert medical advice from top specialists in the field. The book includes first-person stories and hard-won advice from women who have been down this long and often painful road (Huhman included) and offers a clear-eyed look at the emotional and psychological landmines that come with the journey. The result is a book that inspires as much as it educates and is a much-needed source of support and inspiration for readers hungry for understanding and hope.
496 pages, Paperback
Published August 8, 2023
12 people are currently reading
38 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
April 26, 2025
This book is single handily the only thing getting me through infertility. It’s so easy to digest and understand. I think anyone who wants to have a baby should read this simply to understand how a woman’s body works and the options that are out there.
October 2, 2023
This is a really thorough guide for couples dealing with infertility. The author shares some of her personal story throughout the book, shares examples and illustrations from other people's' experiences, and shares a wealth of information about different causes for fertility issues, options that people can pursue, and ways that people can find support and healing through their difficult journey. The author also shares advice for dealing with pregnancy, including high-risk pregnancies, and having a child in the NICU.
Most people won't read this cover to cover, since it is very long and not every topic will apply to them, but this is a great reference guide to dip into for accessible, heartfelt advice and encouragement for many different stages of someone's infertility journey. The author's personal experience with infertility and her deep empathy shine through as she writes about complex medical issues in accessible terms and encourages people to build their support systems and take care of themselves. Also, even though the author writes this primarily to women, she often acknowledges partners' experiences as well.
A great deal of the book focuses on IVF. If someone has already decided for sure that this is not for them, due to financial or ethical reasons, they should know that there's a lot here that won't apply to them. However, there is still a lot that would be helpful. The author is incredibly thorough and covers a wide variety of issues, and I would encourage people to check out the table of contents in the Amazon sample to see all of the topics this book covers. There's so much here!
The author also includes a chapter on the intersection between infertility and faith, and she deals with some ethical objections to IVF here. She acknowledges the concerns that many people have and shares examples from people who found a way to do IVF in a limited way that they felt treated their embryos responsibly. The author keeps this chapter very broad to apply to multiple religions, and people can definitely find better, more specific guidance for their situation elsewhere, but I truly appreciate that she acknowledged the role that faith plays in many people's infertility journeys.
The author acknowledges nontraditional families many times throughout the book, addressing concerns for single people and LGBT couples who want to have children. I felt that her sensitivity to these populations caused her to downplay the potential problems with using surrogacy and egg/sperm donors, however. In contrast, the chapter about adoption is very even-handed, clearly explaining the pros and cons and helping people consider the difficulties involved for the child. The author makes it clear that adoption is primarily a solution to provide families for kids, not to provide kids for adoptive parents.
However, the chapters about surrogacy and donors are so focused on trying to dismantle stigma for single people, LGBT people, and heterosexual couples alike that the author isn't fully forthright about some of the practical and emotional problems that can result from this, even aside from someone's ethical stance on the issue. She shares positive true stories to emphasize that you can do this too, but she doesn't share stories from anybody who regrets using these paths to family-building, or even who has significant second thoughts about an aspect of the process.
The author also doesn't acknowledge the ethical problems with using impoverished women from other countries as surrogates, and writes with the assumption that you're using a domestic surrogate. I would have liked to see her warn against the problems with international surrogacy.
There's also very minimal acknowledgement of what these paths for family building may mean for the child. The author writes about research that shows that it's best to be honest with kids about their origin stories, and she says that you should validate your child's emotions, but I would have liked more acknowledgement of the fact that some children deeply struggle with their origin stories, and may not feel that they can even be honest with their parents about it.
Adoptive parents provide a home for a child who needs one, and even though an adopted child may deeply struggle with their situation, the adoptive parents are not responsible for creating the child's dislocation from their biological family. In cases where a parent uses fertility treatments that disconnect a child from their biological parents, the kid may feel like they can't really be honest about how difficult this is for them, since they would be blaming the parent for the parents' choice.
I get that the author was trying to acknowledge many populations here, creating a non-judgmental space to teach people about all of their options, but given the real-world complications inherent with bringing non-parents' genetic material and wombs into the equation, I would have liked for the author to delve into some potential issues more.
Overall, I was impressed with this book and would recommend it to people who are dealing with infertility. Because this book is so well-organized, with different chapters about clearly defined topics, people can easily skip the parts of the book that don't apply to them and gain practical help and encouragement from the sections that do speak to their situation. There's a lot of wisdom here, and the author shares lots of great practical advice for dealing with a wide variety of situations.
I received a free copy from the publisher through Amazon Vine in exchange for an honest review.
Most people won't read this cover to cover, since it is very long and not every topic will apply to them, but this is a great reference guide to dip into for accessible, heartfelt advice and encouragement for many different stages of someone's infertility journey. The author's personal experience with infertility and her deep empathy shine through as she writes about complex medical issues in accessible terms and encourages people to build their support systems and take care of themselves. Also, even though the author writes this primarily to women, she often acknowledges partners' experiences as well.
A great deal of the book focuses on IVF. If someone has already decided for sure that this is not for them, due to financial or ethical reasons, they should know that there's a lot here that won't apply to them. However, there is still a lot that would be helpful. The author is incredibly thorough and covers a wide variety of issues, and I would encourage people to check out the table of contents in the Amazon sample to see all of the topics this book covers. There's so much here!
The author also includes a chapter on the intersection between infertility and faith, and she deals with some ethical objections to IVF here. She acknowledges the concerns that many people have and shares examples from people who found a way to do IVF in a limited way that they felt treated their embryos responsibly. The author keeps this chapter very broad to apply to multiple religions, and people can definitely find better, more specific guidance for their situation elsewhere, but I truly appreciate that she acknowledged the role that faith plays in many people's infertility journeys.
The author acknowledges nontraditional families many times throughout the book, addressing concerns for single people and LGBT couples who want to have children. I felt that her sensitivity to these populations caused her to downplay the potential problems with using surrogacy and egg/sperm donors, however. In contrast, the chapter about adoption is very even-handed, clearly explaining the pros and cons and helping people consider the difficulties involved for the child. The author makes it clear that adoption is primarily a solution to provide families for kids, not to provide kids for adoptive parents.
However, the chapters about surrogacy and donors are so focused on trying to dismantle stigma for single people, LGBT people, and heterosexual couples alike that the author isn't fully forthright about some of the practical and emotional problems that can result from this, even aside from someone's ethical stance on the issue. She shares positive true stories to emphasize that you can do this too, but she doesn't share stories from anybody who regrets using these paths to family-building, or even who has significant second thoughts about an aspect of the process.
The author also doesn't acknowledge the ethical problems with using impoverished women from other countries as surrogates, and writes with the assumption that you're using a domestic surrogate. I would have liked to see her warn against the problems with international surrogacy.
There's also very minimal acknowledgement of what these paths for family building may mean for the child. The author writes about research that shows that it's best to be honest with kids about their origin stories, and she says that you should validate your child's emotions, but I would have liked more acknowledgement of the fact that some children deeply struggle with their origin stories, and may not feel that they can even be honest with their parents about it.
Adoptive parents provide a home for a child who needs one, and even though an adopted child may deeply struggle with their situation, the adoptive parents are not responsible for creating the child's dislocation from their biological family. In cases where a parent uses fertility treatments that disconnect a child from their biological parents, the kid may feel like they can't really be honest about how difficult this is for them, since they would be blaming the parent for the parents' choice.
I get that the author was trying to acknowledge many populations here, creating a non-judgmental space to teach people about all of their options, but given the real-world complications inherent with bringing non-parents' genetic material and wombs into the equation, I would have liked for the author to delve into some potential issues more.
Overall, I was impressed with this book and would recommend it to people who are dealing with infertility. Because this book is so well-organized, with different chapters about clearly defined topics, people can easily skip the parts of the book that don't apply to them and gain practical help and encouragement from the sections that do speak to their situation. There's a lot of wisdom here, and the author shares lots of great practical advice for dealing with a wide variety of situations.
I received a free copy from the publisher through Amazon Vine in exchange for an honest review.
August 17, 2025
This was an extremely thorough guide for those experiencing infertility and looking to build their family. I greatly appreciated the breadth of subject matter; Huhman seems to explore every possibility that could affect someone's infertility journey, from LGBTQ+ couples, military couples, babies needing to go the NICU, conversations at work, insurance issues, and MORE!
While this book is certainly not designed to be read cover to cover, I did do so, and I am happy I did. Huhman manages to balance the journey of "infertility warriors" with realistic expectations, positivity, and empowerment.
While this book is certainly not designed to be read cover to cover, I did do so, and I am happy I did. Huhman manages to balance the journey of "infertility warriors" with realistic expectations, positivity, and empowerment.
March 17, 2023
thanks to netgalley, the author, and publisher for an ARC.
great resource for folks struggling with fertilely. very similar to numerous other fertilely boosting books but they are all unique in their own way's and this will find its needed audience.
great resource for folks struggling with fertilely. very similar to numerous other fertilely boosting books but they are all unique in their own way's and this will find its needed audience.
June 29, 2024
Very thoughtfully written. I like how it’s organized and easy to go section by section.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews