Cracked Open: Liberty, Fertility and the Pursuit of High Tech Babies
A scathing attack on the fertility industry in the form of a memoir by a woman whose experience was marked by repeated disappointment and physical and emotional trauma... A must-read for any couple contemplating fertility treatments.Kirkus ReviewsOdds are, everything you know about fertility in America is wrong. ­Between our culture s blind faith in technology, the media s compulsion to sensationalize, and a lot of magical thinking, an entire generation of women has plotted their futures based on false information about their reproductive options. Miriam Zoll does an enormous service by making public her quest to get pregnant but her memoir is more than a moving and honest personal story. As a professional human rights and health ­advocate, she is able to make sense of a confusing morass of studies, statistics, and practices with a scientific rigor that rises to watchdog ­journalism. May others follow in her stead.Kate Bolick, Contributing Editor, The AtlanticCracked Open is a provocative look at what happens when feminism's promise of choice collides with the limitations of reproductive science. Miriam Zoll was confident that she could postpone pregnancy to pursue her career. But once she was ready to start a family she discovered that, despite technological advances and positive cultural support for older motherhood, fertility clinics couldn't deliver the miracle she was counting on. Her story is a powerful reminder that as long as biology can trump personal aspirations, American women, even in the 21st century, cannot fully control their lives.Letty Cottin Pogrebin, co-founder, Ms. Magazine; co-founder, National Women s Political Caucus; author of How to be a Friend to a Friend Who's SickCracked Open tells the whole truth about the brave new world of ART (Assisted Reproductive Technologies) and this truth isn t nearly as rosy as we ve all been led to believe. I highly recommend this book to everyone truly concerned about the hearts and souls of humanity.Christiane Northrup, M.D., Ob/Gyn physician; New York Times bestselling author of Women's Bodies, Women's Wisdom and The Wisdom of MenopauseCreating a baby has gone from one of the most intimate acts and private decisions women make to a high tech industry involving dozens of actors with personal and public consequences rarely revealed. In a skillful melding of personal story and medical and policy facts, Miriam Zoll asks all the right questions about the ethics of assisted reproductive technology and the place baby making has in women's lives and identity.Frances Kissling, president, Center for Health, Ethics and Social Policy; former president, Catholics for ChoiceCracked Open is a compelling narrative that speaks for a generation of women who, like the author, delayed parenthood only to find themselves immersed in the over-hyped world of America s Wild West of reproductive medicine. Miriam Zoll convincingly indicts many current practices in the IVF and egg donation industry, making her book a must read both for anyone contemplating fertility treatments, and for those who believe that reproductive medicine is badly in need of reform.George J. Annas, professor of health law, bioethics & human rights, Boston University; author of The Rights of Patients --.Cracked Open is both a touching love story and a riveting account of one couple s heartbreaking encounters with the virtually unregulated, non-transparent and profit-driven world of reproductive medicine. Although the failures of assisted reproductive technology are far more common than the successes, first-person accounts of the often-devastating consequences of entering this high-tech world remain all too rare. But finally, here is a writer with the courage to reveal the intensely personal drama of confronting infertility and medic --Jeremy Gruber, president, Council for Responsible GeneticsHaving a baby is something that most couples take for granted. Many women interested in pursuing career goals wait until they have established themselves at work before starting families, believing that high-tech fertility treatments give them that option. This frank memoir by writer, educator, and reproductive health and public policy advocate Zoll counters these assumptions. At the age of 40, she and her husband decided that they were ready for children. When they did not conceive, they began the journey through in vitro fertilization (IVF). Noting that this industry is largely unregulated and the physicians working in the clinics often make promises that cannot be delivered, Zoll adds that the chance of a woman in her 40s conceiving is low. Yet she and her husband persevered, supporting each other during the ordeal despite their lack of success, and eventually added to their family by adopting a son. Verdict This valuable book providing truthful information for women considering IVF belongs in all public, health sciences, women s studies, and consumer-health collections. --Library Journal"Cracked Open takes an unvarnished look at the netherworld of assisted reproduction and its sometimes joyous outcomes but, more often, its attendant agonies, failures and resulting emotional traumas. Revealing a labyrinth of unverifiable hucksterism, unregulated therapies and uninformed choices , Miriam Zoll courageously reveals her own battles with anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, and points the way for women in similar circumstances to heal themselves. This book can help couples make informed decisions and should be mandatory reading for both women and men entering their reproductive years."Alexander Sanger, Chair, International Planned Parenthood Council; former Goodwill Ambassador, United Nations Population Fund; Author, Beyond Choice: Reproductive Freedom in the 21st CenturyUnlike most traumas which are single, horrific and devastating events infertility is chronic, silent, and often hidden from the public eye. In her well-written, passionate, and funny memoir, Miriam Zoll shows us how this mournful health condition with its invasive medical treatments erodes one s sense of confidence and purpose, and eats away at relationships. Cracked Open is a must read for people coping with infertility so they know they are not alone and also for their friends and family, who often don't understand the true traumatic nature of what their loved ones are experiencing.Janet Jaffe, Ph.D., clinical psychologist, co-director, Center for Reproductive Psychology; co-author of Reproductive Trauma and Unsung Lullabies: Understanding and Coping with InfertilityFinally, a book that speaks to the experience of the majority of reproductive health consumers who gamble their hearts and pocketbooks on fertility treatments but don't always win the jackpot they think they will. By telling her own story with honesty and humor, Miriam Zoll provides comfort, support and warnings to millions of women and men around the world coping with infertility.Naomi Cahn, the Harold H. Greene Professor of Law at George Washington University Law School; author of Test Tube Families: Why the Fertility Market Needs Legal Regulation and The New Kinship: Constructing Donor-Conceived FamiliesTold in a refreshingly honest and forthcoming way, Miriam Zoll's eloquent account of the conflict between her desire for motherhood and the ethical issues around reproductive technologies could not have arrived at a better time. In Cracked Open, Zoll leads us behind the scenes to slog through the personal and political ethics of creating human life in an unregulated marketplace, all the while dissecting through a critical lens how the reproductive industry markets its services to vulnerable women and men.Rebecca Haimowitz amd Vaishali Sinha, co-directors/producers of the award-winning film Made in India, about the phenomenon of outsourcing surrogate mothers to IndiaMiriam Zoll has written a harrowing and moving account about her long ordeal in the maw of the unregulated U.S. infertility industry. Cracked Open is a love story set against a backdrop of the heartlessness of a cash-on-the-barrel-head medical trade that makes promises its technology infrequently keeps. Full of losses and spiritual insights, Zoll s book provides a sobering perspective not offered by brochures and baby-laden clinic websites. Anyone contemplating assisted reproduction owes it to themself to read Cracked Open first.Gina Maranto, author Quest for Perfection: The Drive to Breed Better Human BeingsThe world of assisted reproductive technologies is far more complex than it is often represented spanning significant ethical, commercial, legal, human rights and cultural lines. Cracked Open takes us on an import personal journey through this world --Jeremy Gruber, president, Council for Responsible Genetics