We have friends who have families of all different kinds of make-ups.  Adoptive families, blended families, single parent families, grandparents-raising-grandkids families, and even a few IVF families.

IVF – In-Vitro Fertilization

I’ve just caught the end of IVF Awareness Week (May 16-22)!

I never thought of addressing IVF as a means of being added to a family until recently, and I discovered a neat book – I loVe my Family.

About I loVe my Family

Parents of children born through natural conception as well as adoptive parents have long had many resources to explain how their families were formed. A new book ‘I LoVe my Family’, written by local Calgarian, Tammy Troute-Wood, is believed to be the first book published in Canada that educates a very young audience on how babies are created through assisted reproductive technology.

New Leger Marketing data shows that 82 per cent of Canadians say that infertility would be devastating to a couple.   Now those who have children through fertility treatments are getting a new kind of support — a book that they can use to educate their children about their birth story.  Tammy feels passionate about helping professionals, families and parents increase their understanding and comfort to talk about sexual reproductive health.

“A child benefits greatly when told how he or she was brought into this world, or gets the answer to the question ‘where do babies come from,’” adds Dr. Christine Korol, a child psychologist who wrote the Forward for the book. “Children conceived through assisted reproductive technologies need a clear understanding of their early beginnings and should feel terrific about the many ways that families are created.”

I loVe my Family is now available at Amazon.com. Additional resources for parents are available on Tammy Troute-Wood’s website www.myivfbooks.com.

Tammy is a fertility specialist who experienced infertility first hand and through IVF treatments was able to conceive two children.

My Review

I loVe my Family is believed to be the first book published in Canada that educates a very young audience on how babies are created through assisted reproductive technology including: IVF, egg donor, sperm donor, and surrogacy.  I loVe my Family gives Canadian parents a thoughtfully planned storyline to discuss the many forms of assisted conception with children 3 to 5 years old.  The book’s use of diverse pictures, inclusive language, accurate anatomy and family activities provide a tool to explain all manners of assisted conception.  The book’s central messages of love, hope and family are universal.

My kiddos are fairly well educated about reproduction and sexuality.  For a long time they’ve know about how an egg and sperm get together to make a baby.  They understand that this happens through sexual intercourse, the particulars of which we have been specific about without sharing too much detail.    When getting pregnant with our first kiddo, due to the shape and tilt of my uterus, we had to try some alternative positions to encourage the egg and sperm to get together… these kinds of details we’ve not felt necessary to share with our kiddos.  What IS important to us in the story is that they know that they were very much wanted, that they weren’t accidents, and that we love them.

And as I mentioned earlier, I had honestly never considered needing to describe the process of IVF to a young child, expecting that the details of egg and sperm meeting to make an egg and the baby that was produced then growing in mommy’s tummy would suffice.  But my kiddos were also conceived naturally, so the issue isn’t as personal for me.  I will be sharing I loVe my Family with some friends whose 2nd kiddo was conceived via IVF after lots of other kinds of trials.  This kind of discussion may be important for them to pursue with their children at some point.

For those who feel like they need to share more details about having conceived through assisted conception, this book will be a helpful resource. In addition to the story to read to children, there is a detailed section in the back of the book to help parents talk with their children about any of the various forms of assisted conception.  In our family discussions about conception, we’ve been unable and unwilling to remove the faith (i.e. God) factor – but if you’re looking for straight science, that’s what I loVe my Family provides.  While I personally prefer not to use the term ’embryo’ (instead we call it a baby right from the beginning), the terminology and anatomy used in the book is accurate.  The illustrations are bright and great for younger children – the theme of puzzle pieces is carried through much of the book and is a fun way to illustrate the story.

I always enjoy finding and promoting fellow Albertans!  Show your Canadian support by visiting Tammy at her website My IVF Books and pick up your own copy of I loVe my Family on Amazon!

I received a copy of I loVe my Family to review and share with my readers.  As always, my opinions are my own.